Chinese Penguin Love: The Lenovo and Linux Story

Davey Winder
Saturday, 13 September 2008 16:28

Business IT - Open Source

So why not just leave the Linux option be, even if only a handful of consumers are consuming? Good question and the best answer I have found would be to simplify stock control issues on the web sales side of things.

By cutting through the complexity of the stock control systems, and streamlining the consumer offerings, Lenovo can concentrate on using the online sales channel as a showcase for its most popular products.

Indeed, Lenovo spokesman Ray Gorman says that "We want the focus on Lenovo.com to be those products that customers are most interested in."

Gorman insists that "our commitment to Linux has not changed" and to be fair, there is no reason to doubt that. All that has changed is the focus of that commitment, away from the consumer and onto the business market.

Not everyone believes the official Lenovo version of events. An Inquirer reporter writes "Anyone watching the way the big outfits are squeezing open source offerings from their products could be forgiven for thinking something's afoot."

However, suggesting that Microsoft is behind the move is probably a headline grabbing move too far...