This is my response to the topic on thinkpads.com called “Editorial: Commoditization of ThinkPad”, as well as to everyone else who is saying the same thing.
I think that the whole thought that ThinkPad is becoming a commodity is absurd. It is NOT becoming a commodity, so don’t believe everything that you’re hearing about that. Really, is ThinkPad becoming a commodity just because they’re now priced lower? I think not. Price dosen’t determine whether something is good or not, but rather it is determined by its reputation.
ThinkPad has a great reputation. It is the longest lasting laptop computer out there. It beats its competitors with that and the fact that they’re reliable, sturdy, well-desinged, and well-engineered. Unlike most of it’s competitors out there, Lenovo designs its own computers and does its own R&D. They have a whole team of dedicated designers and engineers and they are in the U.S., Japan, France, and other places (but are mostly in the US and Japan).
Lenovo is not putting quantity over quality. The only reason they’ve been able to have all of the computers that they have (on sale) right now is because they’ve done their finances and research right. I like this because there is now a wide variety of computers to choose from. There’s pretty much something for everyone.
Another reason those people believe that ThinkPad is becoming a commodity is because, in addition to being priced lower, there are constant discounts. Of course they’re being discounted, almost everyone wants a ThinkPad (because that’s how great they are) and people are trying to save money. You’re getting great quality at a low price, that’s a deal you just can’t beat.
So there you have it, my thoughts on the “commoditization” of ThinkPads. I also invite you to see my friend Navck’s response to the topic and you can read it right here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=87969 . I also invite you to see the Lenovo Blog “Yamato Thinking”, which is moslty about ThinkPad development: http://lenovoblogs.com/yamato/?language=en
And so you can “see” how I feel about this topic, I invite you to hear the song “In One Ear” by Cage The Elephant (I’m sure ThinkPad feels the same way too).
Commodization means that a piece of goods becomes undifferentiated to the competitors, quality is relative to the price you pay, and there is no brand premiums.
Obviously thinkpads is differentiated to the competitors in terms of the laptop design, and there is a brand premium for the Thinkpad laptops compared to say an Acer.
From these two facts, then what people say about commodisation of Thinkpads are untrue.
But laptop industry as a whole is ungoing a shift to JDM/ODM for laptop design and manufacturing.
Lenovo as a whole, is certainly involved in that process, since this is only way to lower prices for their machines.
If you want to get a glimpse of that, just google the power adapter used in early ideapad model, you will find that it is same as those used on ASUS, Acer and Toshiba laptops.
But one can’t blame Lenovo, PC/laptop market is a cut throat business, people will switch brand based purely on price and feature. They could equally buy Lenovo or ASUS, if the price is right.
I agree with what you said about ThinkPads being “commoditizised” (which they aren’t).
In my opinion, people should switch brands because of quality and reliability (which Lenovos have), regardless of price.
People should purchase a laptop based on 4 factors:
1. Price, which is obvious since not everyone is equally wealthy.
2. Relative quality for the price.
3. Aftersale service quality
4. Parts intercompatibility
I agree.