Lenovo’s offer to buy the remainder of IBM’s X86 business is likely to be concluded this Wednesday.
IBM is disposing of the deal to the Chinese manufacturer for $1.8 billion and when the acquisition is complete, it will finally have washed its hands of all of its X86 business.
That doesn’t mean its out of the hardware business completely, of course. It will carry on selling its mainframes and a number of other high profit and enterprise standard appliances.
It was the first to launch an X86 personal computer back in the 1980s but its exclusive hold in the market was swiftly dented by competition from clone makers such as Dell and Compaq.
The deal will be completed because it waited approval from the European Union, China and the USA. But authorities in these territories have raised no objections to the sale.
When the deal is complete, it will catapult Lenovo into the major league of X86 players and will let it diversify its business by targeting the lucrative high end of the market.
