Key Metrics and Supply Alert
Staff -- Purchasing, 10/20/2005
- Businesses seeking to combine hurricane-hit operations will get a quick review from the federal government's antitrust lawyers, the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have announced. "Joint ventures and other collaborative arrangements may be helpful in rebuilding after the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita," says Thomas Barnett, the Justice Department's antitrust chief.
- Lenovo, the Chinese firm that bought IBM's personal computer business, plans to focus on notebook PCs, exploit the fast-growing markets of China and India, and add Lenovo-branded machines in the North American market early next year. Also, ThinkPad, ThinkCentre and Lenovo notebooks soon will integrate high-speed wireless technology from Verizon Wireless. Note: Until now, the Lenovo and IBM operations have been run somewhat independently. But the combined PC firm soon will be led by global teams in such areas as product development, sales and supply chain including procurement, manufacturing and logistics.
- The high-end laser and inkjet printer market is in the dumps so office buyers may see even more aggressive pricing in coming weeks. Producers such as Lexmark, Hewlett-Packard and Canon are trying to reduce distribution channel inventories in the face of the lower-than-expected end user demand. When purchasing will perk up remains open for debate, according to analysts at UBS Financial Services. The computer industry is leaning toward laptops and users of these devices tend to print less. Also, low-end laser-printer products appear to be cannibalizing low-end inkjet sales.
- PURCHASING magazine and Aberdeen Group are coproducing the Chief Procurement Officers' Summit Conference at the Westin Hotel at Copley Square in Boston on November 16 and 17. The CPO Summit will discuss supply management technologies, offshore sourcing strategies, spending analysis successes and best practices in supplier development and improvement. More information and registration details are available at www.purchasing.com and www.aberdeen.com.
- Electronic methods of personal identification as e-passports, visas, driver's licenses, national ID cards, and government access badges will become a huge global phenomenon (and market) by the end of the decade, according to a new study from ABI Research. "The push to issue electronic identification and its backing infrastructure will result in a rapid expansion of the global markets for RFID and biometric technologies," says ABI Research analyst Sara Shah in New York.
Talkback
Related Content
Related Content
Sponsored Links
View All Blogs
Now Playing:
