Best Buy to Sell Lenovo ThinkPads and 3000 Series Laptops (updated)

UPDATED: (11/2006 11:26 a.m. EST) According to the press release from Lenovo, it will not be all Best Buy retail stores carrying Lenovo products, but rather just stores that feature Best Buy for Business sales as well. That means only 135 stores nationwide will carry Lenovo products, butLenovo productscan be bought online via Best Buy here.

In another sign that the Lenovo is trying to shake things up and sell more laptops, the company will today announce ThinkPads and the new 3000 series laptops will go on sale in Best Buy retail store locations across the U.S.

It was just last year that Lenovoand Office Depot teamed up to start marketing and sellingThinkPads in Office Depot stores across the U.S. Office Depot, being a office supply focused retailer, made a lot of sense for Lenovo to sell ThinkPads and capture the eye of some more business type customers. However, with the move into Best Buy stores the focus is much more ontargeting theconsumer type. Best Buy is the biggest electronics retail store in the U.S. and sells such things as televisions, computers, DVDs, video game systems and music players.

No official statement has yet been made so there is no knowledge as to which specific ThinkPads will be sold, but it's a sure bet the Lenovo 3000 C100 and N100 series will be sold and our guess is the ThinkPad Z60m or upcoming Z61m widescreen notebooks would also be sold as they were the first to make it into Office Depot stores.

Related:

• ThinkPad Z60m Review
• Lenovo 3000 C100 Review
• Lenovo 3000 N100 Review

ThinkPad Z60m collapsed and open view (view larger image)

Lenovo 3000 C100 (view large image)

Lenovo 3000 N100 (view large image)

 

Will Dell eventually follow suit is the big question.

 

Not likely in my opinion. They have never done retail.

 

Why not, are they like an independent firm or something?

 

Dell has never done any retail sales outside of their own kiosks.

 

In another sign that the Lenovo is trying to shake things up and sell more laptops, the company will today announce ThinkPads and the new 3000 series laptops will go on sale in Best Buy retail store locations across the U.S.

It was just last year that Lenovoand Office Depot teamed up to start marketing and sellingThinkPads in Office Depot stores across the U.S. Office Depot, being a office supply focused retailer, made a lot of sense for Lenovo to sell ThinkPads and capture the eye of some more business type customers. However, with the move into Best Buy stores the focus is much more ontargeting theconsumer type. Best Buy is the biggest electronics retail store in the U.S. and sells such things as televisions, computers, DVDs, video game systems and music players.

No official statement has yet been made so there is no knowledge as to which specific ThinkPads will be sold, but it's a sure bet the Lenovo 3000 C100 and N100 series will be sold and our guess is the ThinkPad Z60m or upcoming Z61m widescreen notebooks would also be sold as they were the first to make it into Office Depot stores.

Source: CNET.com

Related:

• ThinkPad Z60m Review
• Lenovo 3000 C100 Review
• Lenovo 3000 N100 Review

ThinkPad Z60m collapsed and open view (view larger image)

Lenovo 3000 C100 (view large image)

Lenovo 3000 N100 (view large image)

 

It'd be tough for the ThinkPads to sell all that well in a Best Buy type of location given the generally higher sticker price, but the Lenovo 3000 series could fare well and I think a lot of potential ThinkPad buyers will go to Best Buy to try out a ThinkPad and then either buy it online having had the opportunity to try it or, if they're the type of consumer that just prefers to buy in a retail store, then pick it up right there.

From a high level perspective, it's a good move for Lenovo I think.

 

This is signifigant. I'm surprised Lenovo is doing it.

I wonder if IBM would have done the same thing. Hmm. . .

Chaz

 

Can anyone tell me why then Dell is quoted as "the number 1 PC manufacturer in America" when their products are only sold online?

Customer manipulation? False advertising in regards to their "outstanding customer support" which is outsourced to India? What's the deal?

 

They sell more PCs in the U.S. than any other company and purely sell online, they claim that keeps costs down for them, and considering you can almost always get a Dell configured more cheaply than any other notebook with similar specs it's true.

Dell support is much better than Sony and Acer (from personal experience) so although they're not perfect Dell tends to get a bad rep simply because they sell a much larger volume of PCs than anyone else so there's more room for support nightmares. People tend not to post and report about good support as it's what they'd expect.

Lenovo is going to have to step up to the plate and make sure they can keep up with support related stuff if they sell more laptops due to this deal.

 

I hope NOT .

When a direct seller goes to retail he can no longer offer low prices and heavy discounts like Dell has from time to time , opposite the retailer often causes prices to go up ( due to extra costs and his margin ) in *both* channels .

See : toshibadirect.com .

 

wow. I never realized how exactly alike Best Buy tries to make their stores.