IBM Group immediately held a meeting. They originally thought that Lianxiang Group had always been interested in their PC business and had expressed its desire to acquire it more than once.
When they agreed, Lianxiang Group should be very happy.
At the beginning, Liu Chuanzhi's tone sounded very happy, but why did things change so much in less than an hour
Isn’t it said that Liu Chuanzhi is very prestigious in Lianxiang Group? Although he is a small shareholder, he is the chairman and the CEO of Taihua Holdings. What he agreed to did failed to succeed
Or could it be that someone else influenced Liu Chuanzhi's decision, and this person had a very strong influence on Liu Chuanzhi. So who this person is is already clear.
Feng Yu, Feng Yu must have said something, and Liu Chuanzhi suddenly changed his mind!
In fact, Feng Yu's guess was correct. There was indeed a problem with IBM's PC business. Their products are not cost-effective, and they mainly make high-end laptops. The sales of desktop computers have declined the most. Their thinkcentre, that is, desktop business, has almost no market, except for those political orders.
And their thinkpad, that is, notebook computer business, is pretty good. They mainly sell high-end business notebooks, and not many can compete with them.
For example, they were the first to launch a fingerprint lock and many security encryption functions, which are ahead of other PC manufacturers.
But this cannot cover up the overall decline in their PC business and the imminent loss. If they hadn't scaled down their desktop business in time, I'm afraid they would have lost money now.
But without the desktop business, they have too many employees. If they want to avoid losing money, the most direct way is to lay off employees.
Layoffs have a very negative impact on a company. It greatly affects the working mood and atmosphere of employees, and also makes people see that the company can no longer afford so much expenditure.
If there are no layoffs, there is another way, which is to cut salaries. Like layoffs, it will greatly affect the mood of employees and reduce the company's image.
If there are no layoffs or salary cuts, IBM will lose money. Although they can afford this loss, which shareholder would be willing to bear it? Over time, if it cannot turn losses into profits, it will drag down the development of the company. Will it lead to layoffs or salary cuts
Therefore, it is most cost-effective to sell the entire PC business at this time. Not only has it reduced expenses, but also gained income, and can concentrate on operating major profitable businesses such as software and servers, while ensuring that IBM's brand value will not decline.
It would be best to obtain a portion of Lianxiang Group's shares so that they do not completely lose the PC business. Taking advantage of Lianxiang Group's current popularity, they can still make a fortune.
Moreover, they can also use Lianxiang Group's channels to expand their share of other products in the Asian and Eastern European markets, thus increasing their profits.
When Lianxiang Group's business was bloated and had to be streamlined, they sold the stocks and made another good income.
But this shrewd calculation could not be carried out now. Liu Chuanzhi told them that he no longer wanted to buy IBM's PC business!
They discussed for a long time, could IBM just lay off employees? Or are you talking about selling your business to other PC manufacturers? But will other PC manufacturers be interested in their business
Even if there were, other PC manufacturers would not be able to help IBM expand the market share of other businesses in Asia and Eastern Europe. Lianxiang Group is the leader in Asia and Eastern Europe.
At this time, IBM's executives suddenly regretted that they should have agreed to Lianxiang Group last year. When Lianxiang Yinshan launched the xos system, they needed support the most, but they missed it.
If the PC business was sold at that time, one could still get the shares of Lianxiang Group, and then build a relationship with Lianxiang Yinshan. If they join forces, it is not impossible for IBM to become the leader of the world's IT industry again!
But all these opportunities were wasted by them. Today is different from the past.
Because they couldn't bear it at that time, because they couldn't see clearly at that time, and because of their arrogance, they were unwilling to be acquired by a rising star like Lianxiang Group.
"Miller, is Liu's attitude very firm?" a director asked.
"Very firm, it's definitely not their negotiation strategy." Miller wanted to say, even if it is the other party's negotiation strategy, we can only hold our noses and admit it.
But the other party was really determined and didn't want to buy it at all.
"Miller, contact other manufacturers. And reduce the desktop business again. In the future, we will also sell notebooks to the government." IBM's CEO said.
"The desktop business has shrunk again. I reserve my opinion on this. Although our sales are doing well, without desktops, our competitive advantage will not be that great. After all, the price of notebooks is not much more expensive than desktops." Few." One director said.
"I don't think it's appropriate to proactively contact other manufacturers to sell our PC business. Even if it can be sold, the price will not be very high. And after we lose the desktop business, the selling price will be even lower. So we are reducing our business and There is a conflict between selling the entire business." Someone else expressed an opinion.
"Why don't we discuss it with Liu again, or let's go directly to Feng? We have so many patented technologies, and when we sell the overall business this time, we also include so many patented technologies. These will have a great impact on the technological improvement of Lianxiang Group. The big benefit is that our research and development directions are different."
Miller thought of something at this time. He hesitated for a long time and said: "I remember Liu once told me that what he likes most are some of our PC patented technologies. How about we license those patented technologies to Lianxiang Group? In exchange for some cash?”
"Since our sales have been seriously affected, and we originally planned to do technology development in the future, wouldn't we also have to sell technology? As for our overall PC business, I think we should contact manufacturers in island countries and South Korea or Taiwan. Manufacturers. These North American manufacturers overlap with our market and seriously reduce our value."
Miller's remarks were unanimously approved by the board of directors. They thought about it and found that this was one of the simplest ways. Haven't manufacturers from those island countries always wanted to buy their PC business? Why not give them a hint and let them take the initiative to contact them. Then list the patents individually, authorize multiple parties, and charge fees. This is in the best interest.
Liu Chuanzhi was just thinking about how to talk to IBM about purchasing the other party's patented technology, when Miller called.
"Miller, I told you that our Lianxiang Group has given up on this acquisition plan."
"No, Liu, I think you will definitely be interested in the business I'm talking to you about. Don't you want IBM's patented PC technology?"
… To be continued.