ZDNet Australia confirmed the timing this afternoon with Heather Jones, Communications Manager for IBM's Asia Pacific/Australia/NZ Personal Systems Group. Jones said that 100 percent of IBM PC division employees will transfer over, plus any employees that support IBM's PC business more than 50 percent of the time.
Jones also said that the company had conducted internal surveys regarding the big move, and "something like 98 percent of employees are excited about their future at Lenovo". A spokesperson for IBM told ZDNet Australia back in December that there were around 180 employees in Australia and 10 in New Zealand that were expected to make the transition to the Chinese company.
Alan Munro, general manager of IBM's PC division in Australia is expected to head Lenovo's Australian and New Zealand operations once the deal is completed.
Although much of IBM's PC product line is expected to retain its current branding, David Nichol, brand manager for IBM's PC division in Australia and NZ told ZDNet Australia this week that he would be assessing the possible entry of Lenovo-branded products into the Australian marketplace after the merger was complete. Any new products, he said, would take into consideration the current positioning of IBM's desktop products in the corporate and government arenas.
