IBM is the originator of the "PC", and their quality of engineering and breakthrough design is legendary. That's why they have since their beginning been the premier PC company, that as everyone knows was able to successfully charge premier prices. It's not Chinese junk, it's the best engineered PC's with the highest R&D budget and greatest number of patents.
Combined with China's main PC company, it gives China not only the IBM name (for a while), but gives them the 3rd largest PC company in the world. And with HP's troubles, who currently sit at number 2, they could quickly be overtaken.
What IBM is essentially trying to do, is not only give the Chinese the highest quality PC engineers and manufacturing facilities in the world, but put them on the threshold of taking over the industry. And this is the Chinese government we're talking about, not a group of investors, but a communist controlled entity.
Thank you GE. That was the argument I was looking for. and I hope you read the part of my post that referred to an economic attack. You have hit the nail on the head. This is the threat we will surely deal with in this arrangement. I am glad you have put the real nuts on the table to be cracked. I think any help to the ChiComms is an attack on us, one that the ChiComms plan on taking full advantage of. But, remember that IBM's PC division, outside of their Thinkpad brand, is stagnant and has been for some time. HP has made their own bed and regardless of this deal must lie in it. The deal with the ChiComms may hamper HP, but they aren't going to go silently. You must remember that much of IBM's PC business is in the the industies of governement and defense. Those entities are not going to buy a product that is owned by the ChiComms. I would hope. I may be wrong, but I could only hope.
Not only that, but China would become the first OEM with GSP access to Windows source code... not just the OEM builds. Just think of what you could do with total control of both hardware and software.
Is there anyone at Microsoft who monitors the OEMs to make sure that they're building/selling systems with no unauthorized patches?