Computers.
I know that here in Australia, ALDI have a low reputation in the eyes of some people, although I have always been happy with the majority of my purchases with them, but today I ended up being a bit surprised after checking out a Tevion PVR on sale somewhere other than ALDI.
I had thought that Tevion and Medion were ALDI own brand names, especially as Medion AG is shown to be a German company.
However, I found a link to IBM…
Medion AG is a German consumer electronics company.
Medion products in Australia and the United States are available exclusively at Aldi and Super Billing Computers, with some products (such as DVD players) branded as Tevion. (Wikipedia)
Medion’s Revenue in 2011 was € 1.432 billion (Medion Annual Report 2011 pdf)
Medion is owned by Lenovo
1st June 2011
(Reuters) – Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd’s has agreed to buy German electronics retailer Medion AG
Lenovo is a Chinese company with its operational headquarters in North Carolina, United States.
Lenovo’s Revenue in 2012 was US$ 29.57 billion
Lenovo bought IBM Computer hardware Division in 2004
8th December 2004
IBM, which revolutionised the global computer industry when it launched its first desktop in 1981, has sold its PC business to a Chinese group in a $1.75bn (£900m) deal. Guardian.co.uk
More thoughts……..
IBM Revenue in 2011 was: US$106.9 billion. That is without their consumer PC Division !! What do IBM actually do and sell now?
When I first read the turnover figure for Medion I saw € 1,432 billion. I thought that was way too much. Almost One and a Half Thousand Billion. It dawned on me after a while. Some countries use the comma as a decimal point….
So, a British speaker who sees these figures will read the results as:
US 1,432 billion = 1,432,000,000,000
UK 1.432 billion = 1,432,000,000
Whilst in actual fact, they both mean 1,432,000,000
130.1 - 811,536