ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK: DaaS model transforms world of computer makers
Hardware is borrowing from the software model of subscribing to a product as a service
There can be few product categories as frustrating to corporate accountants as computer equipment. They go on the books as an asset at their full value but depreciate so fast it is as if the company has created a faultline in its balance sheet. Now, hardware is borrowing from the software model of subscribing to a product as a service, and always having the latest version available. Both of the world's top two computer makers, Lenovo and HP, hope that device-as-a-service, or DaaS, will protect them from a market decline that has decimated many a PC maker. Lenovo, the Chinese corporation that acquired IBM's PC businesses in 2004 and its servers in 2014, announced last week it would take the model further. Ironically, it was able to make those acquisitions as a result of IBM's own decision to become a services company rather than being hardware-focused. However, rather than hardware becoming less important at the expense of services, it will remain at the heart of the business and wil...
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