Direct and to the point
Chinese system builder Lenovo has unveiled a new website where end-users can purchase PCs directly from Lenovo, effectively bypassing its channel.
Lenovo is claiming that this opens up a new customer segment for it, presumably in order to demonstrate that no business will be taken from its incumbent indirect channel, but this move is sure to alarm some Lenovo channel partners.
"Lenovo's business is heavily based on our commitment to the channel," said Alan Munro, VP of Lenovo UK and Ireland. "Our channel business remains strategically important to us, particularly in enabling us to satisfy demand from customers in the SMB market."
"In fact, one of the principal aims of the new web shop is to create a greater demand for Lenovo products and increase sales leads for our business partners. This is not a shift away from our indirect route to market; it's incremental - we're simply offering new customers more choice and more ways to engage with us."
Other concessions to the channel include a discount for channel partners on the site and a cap of five PCs per customer. You can visit the new Lenovo web shop at www.lenovo.com/shop/uk.
