Lenovo with Swarovski Crystals and a Waterproof Laptop?
by Bernard Ablola
Sep 23, 2008 Bernard, China Study Tour 2008
Lenovo with Swarovski Crystals
After our discussion with Cory we visited Lenovo’s research building, which houses over 500 of Lenovo’s research engineers. Our tour guide provided us with some background information about the history of the company and its product innovations. We were able to see some of the latest Lenovo innovations such as the new netbooks, a laptop blinging with Swarovski Crystals and water being poured onto a fully functioning laptop.
Please DO NOT Try This At Home
The attached video is from the company tour at Lenovo’s headquarters in China. Our guide showed us an impressive sound, heat and water test. The laptop had a continual stream of water being poured directly on the keyboard while still on. The laptop had a drain built in the bottom of the keyboard that allowed the water to drain and not destroy the memory board.
As an IT person and marketer, I thought this was fascinating and intuitive. Lenovo should leverage this type of product information directly in their ads. When I first heard that Lenovo purchased the IBM division, I immediately thought that the quality would decline. China companies are usually known for mass produced products that may lack quality. The “made in China” brands are now facing a negative stereotype as the mass manufacturer of the world products. The visit to the Lenovo headquarters demonstrated to me their strong emphasis on quality and innovation. If I were in Lenovo’s marketing department I would show someone spilling a cup of coffee on the keyboard, quickly rinsing it off and continuing to type.
Companies such as Lenovo will continue to succeed as they focus on quality and innovation. This is something that other Chinese manufacturers lack.
Tags: Bernard Ablola, China Study Tour, Lenovo