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How does this PSG spin-off enhance the PSG value proposition for partners and customers?
In May, we talked about converting our commercial/consumer view to a value, a volume and a commercial segmentation. And the rationale for that was very much around the consumerization of IT that we all see and giving partners an even broader more vibrant portfolio of great commercial products.
But also premium products that will transcend into the enterprise. So that had taken place before any of this work on a separation [of PSG] started. We were already down the path of working strategically on what the marketplace is saying. If you think about the PC business historically, we kind of built it, we sold it, people bought it.
We are more focused on gaining customer insight than we have ever been, putting more resources in place to understand it, not just from a channel perspective, but also from a consumer perspective because we are at the beginning of the impact of the consumerization of IT on the enterprise, on any of our partners' customers.
I think we are once again leading the industry in a thought process that says, 'How are we going to lead the industry through this next transition?' We have moved from mobility to now a world of connectivity. We are moving from a world of commercial/consumer to a world of just ubiquitous computing.
And I think we have structured our product organizations now to be even more nimble and more focused on that than we have ever been. Clearly we have gotten to market through this time of uncertainty. Like we have always said -- and I think it has proven out to be extraordinarily accurate over the past six years -- we are most loyal to those partners that are most loyal to us.
Talk about PSG's partner commitment right now and what it is going to be post PC spin-off.
I think success speaks for itself. I think we have got great partnerships with great people that get our products to a broad, broad customer base. We operate very successfully the largest most profitable PC business in the world with the largest channel in the world. I can't think of any reason that we would do anything but get better over time.
Talk about the margins in the commercial solution provider North American channel separate from the consumer retail business.
There is no question that our commercial business has gotten much stronger. It will continue to get stronger. But I don’t think you can talk about that business without the other. In fact, we have tried to blend -- not from a go-to-market perspective but from a product perspective -- tried to make that less definitive if you will because we have seen people like Apple that are being very successful in the enterprise because of the consumerization of IT.
We know we have an opportunity to drive great design through multiple channels. The new 5000 Series notebook is as hot for consumers as it is for enterprise. Even at the enterprise level you have got to create some of that desire.
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