One question that must be asked in the wake of Lenovo’s decision last week to sell its ThinkPad notebooks, ThinkCentre and ThinkVantage desktops and Lenovo 3000 line through retail behemoth Best Buy: Just what kind of message is Lenovo sending its other channel partners?
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| STEVEN BURKE Can be reached at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com. |
Solution providers say they don’t believe Best Buy can grab small or midsize solutions business from them. But the agreement is certainly destined to drive down product margins. And it also will cause headaches for partners fielding questions from CFOs or purchasing agents who are shopping with the kids on Saturday and see the ThinkPad line at a rock-bottom price on the Best Buy shelf. A best channel practice for vendors committed to selling SMB solutions through an independent solution provider network is to provide one distinct high-end product for partners selling into those accounts and another for retailers selling to mass-market consumers.
That is not the case with the Best Buy deal. Indeed, it includes ThinkPads and ThinkVantage desktops, which have long been promoted as providing higher reliability, security, asset management, etc. In one fell swoop, Lenovo diluted the high-value ThinkPad and ThinkVantage proposition by throwing the products on a retail shelf. My question for Lenovo: Is this the kind of message you want to send your solution providers?
What do you think of the Lenovo-Best Buy deal? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at sburke@cmp.com.
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