PC WEEK: IBM still suffering from severe ThinkPad shortage

[Tom Kustner <emjay@execpc.com>]

http://www.pcweek.com/news/0617/18eibm.html

I am sure the usual copyrights apply.  The above URL is where this story
comes from.

>    -------------------------------------------------------------------
>     [PC Week Online]    June 18, 1996 6:30 p.m. ET
>                         IBM still suffering from severe
>                         ThinkPad shortage
> 
>                         By Charles Cooper
> 
>    -------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>               IBM is grappling with a severe shortage of
>               ThinkPads that a senior company official today
>               said may last until the end of the year.
> 
>               In an interview, William Amelio, the vice
>               president of re-engineering at IBM's Personal
>               Computer Co., said orders for the portable line
>               are approximately twice as high as the
>               company's ability to satisfy demand.
> 
>               Amelio, who said a new inventory management
>               process will kick in during the fourth quarter,
>               was guardedly optimistic about IBM's ability to
>               address the inventory imbalance earlier than
>               the end of the year.
> 
>               "We expect to get clear by Q3, but it's
>               difficult to tell," he said. Amelio added that
>               IBM is making 40,000 ThinkPad units every week.
> 
>               Amelio was given the charge to straighten out
>               IBM's manufacturing and procurement problems
>               earlier this spring after Joe Formichelli
>               resigned to take the helm at Hayes
>               Microcomputer Products Inc. He has since begun
>               implementing an ambitious program to rehaul the
>               Personal Computer Co.'s order entry and
>               inventory replacement procedures to eliminate
>               the periodic product shortages that have nagged
>               IBM over the years.
> 
>               "We came into this year with the idea to
>               increase our [market] share modestly," Amelio
>               said. "The idea was to get some traction to
>               allow us to capture back share and allow us to
>               dominate later. But this is the year of
>               execution."
> 
>               In recent weeks, resellers have complained
>               about the recurring ThinkPad shortages
> 
>               We can not get them at all through our regular
>               distributor channels. We have to get through
>               the gray market," said Lesley Lincoln,
>               president of Laptops Plus Inc. in Winter Park,
>               Florida. IBMs not the only one in that boat;
>               Toshiba and NEC [are bad as well]. AST is
>               getting better. Toshiba, NEC and IBM are the
>               three worst, and Compaq is close fourth.
> 
>               IBM is the worst of the bunch at preannoucning
>               before theyre ready. They love to fill back
>               orders.
> 
>               Wally Raymond, vice president of sales and
>               marketing at Laptop Superstore in Natick,
>               Mass., noted that Thinkpads have been in
>               allocation status for a while. In other words,
>               theres not enough for everyone to go around,
>               youve got to wait for your order to be
>               allocated. Theyre no different from Toshiba,
>               or NEC. Its the nature of the beast. Its [one
>               of] the hottest products out there, and
>               corporate America is screaming for them. If I
>               get one [a Thinkpad] its usually a surprise.
>               Additional reporting by Margaret Kane
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Kustner                   Emjay Corporation    
System/LAN Administrator      725 W. Glendale Ave.
Email: emjay@execpc.com       Glendale, WI  53209-6509  USA
Any opinions are mine and not necessarily those of Emjay's.