Ukraine, Call For Consumers To Stop Buying Lenovo PC’s Or Flying On Emirates
Calls have been made for consumers to support Ukraine by banning the purchase of products offered by Companies that are still selling into Russia, among them is Lenovo, Emirates airline, and Johnson & Johnson all Companies that sell their products in Australia.
Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld at Yale University’s School of Management identified the Companies that are still operating in Russia.
Around 600 big firms have pulled out of Russia or suspended sales since it invaded, including Apple, Samsung, LG Electronics, Acer who only days ago reversed their original decision to continue selling into Russia.
Acer only recently announced they will suspend its Russia business because of the war in Ukraine following extensive criticism of the Taiwanese brand for continuing to sell into Russia.
ChannelNews understands that ASUS who said that they have stopped selling PC products in Russia, is still supplying some products to Russian distributors along with several Chinese smartphone brands including Oppo and Xiaomi.
Emirates’ boss Tim Clarke says the airline will keep flying to Russia unless its owner, the Dubai government, tells it not to.
“If we are told to stop, we will stop, unless we are told otherwise, we will continue,” Sir Tim Clarke told the BBC.
Lenovo’s Russian landing page is still online and there is even a discount coupon available this week.
Observers claim that China has mostly taken Russia’s part for the time being, even though it is trying to keep its distance.
They claim that Acer and ASUS’s early defiance did not make much sense given the complicated political status of Taiwan.
Inflation and the war in Ukraine are affecting PC sale forecasts, according to a report by Nikkei Asia.
The outlet cites several sources claiming that PC manufacturers are lowering forecasts for the upcoming quarters. HP, Dell, and ASUS have reportedly told suppliers to lower production for the next six months.
An executive of a supplier to the PC industry told Nikkei Asia that there will be a drop in PC sales due to the war in Ukraine.
“We started to receive notices from some clients to build less components and parts since the middle of February and we’ve been in constant communication with the clients in the past one month over the dynamic market situation since the war…Now one of their priorities is to carefully manage their inventory level at retail channels.”
In Australia, a senior Ukrainian executive of a major distributor said, “The easiest way for consumers to show their support for Ukraine is to stop buying products from Companies such as Lenovo that are still supporting Russia”.