In a new letter to channel partners, Lenovo has stated that the company expects PC price hikes in March amid the memory crunch affecting the industry. The letter, obtained by CRN, notes that Lenovo's North America channel chief, Wade McFarland, mentioned there will be some pricing changes to certain products and configurations that Lenovo offers, which will be communicated later with the exact specification changes. In the letter, Wade McFarland noted that there have been some changes to the ordering policy for the Intelligent Devices Group (IDG), responsible for PCs like desktops, notebooks, and tablets, while the Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) unit responsible for server solutions is also experiencing the same changes. Lenovo's North American president, Ryan McCurdy, noted that "we've absolutely had to adjust and continue to adjust [pricing]. There's no way around it."

However, the company has advised its partners to submit orders while it is still February, as that will lock in the pricing at which Lenovo can supply PCs before the price hike expected in March. "Pricing is influenced by both order timing and fulfillment timing, and Lenovo reviews pricing periodically in response to evolving market conditions," notes Wade McFarland, adding that Lenovo's memory suppliers have been good and that the company has been informed of every pricing change in advance so that it can effectively communicate with its clients and warn them before any changes happen. That way, clients don't experience pricing shocks that may impact their purchasing decisions, as Lenovo sells millions of PCs every month. A slight, unexpected price change may result in a significant change in purchasing decisions, so communication with clients is key.Interestingly, Lenovo's ISG, where storage and servers are sold, is now offering price quotes that last only 14 days for Lenovo's internal bidding platform and 30 days for the external bidding platform, where customers can submit orders. After that period, the pricing changes to account for new supply chain developments, which likely results in a price hike. Finally, Lenovo has recently restructured its ISG product offerings by reducing the complexity of configurations and consolidating some lineups, so it can provide customers with easier choices for their enterprise. This reportedly has helped Lenovo navigate the new and volatile memory and storage market, which has seen its pricing increase significantly in the last few months.