According to the Financial Times, Lenovo chairman Yang Yuanqing said China’s largest PC maker aims to grow at twice the industry growth rate over the next five years. The company will focus on increasing its market share in emerging regional markets such as China, India, Brazil, and Russia. In the next five years the new Lenovo will become the most competitive PC company and the best PC brand in the world, he was quoted as saying.
Lenovo is currently the world’s third-largest PC maker behind market leaders Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co. Like its fellow Asian rival, Acer Corp, Lenovo is keen to take on the old world PC makers, and while Dell looks relatively secure at the moment, HP is starting to cast nervous glances over its shoulder as Lenovo and Acer continue to acquire market share. Lenovo is experiencing strong growth in emerging markets, which account for 53% of the company’s current growth, with Brazil and Russia producing 50%-plus growth rates year-over-year.
Meanwhile, Lenovo is also moving to solidify its mid-market presence in the more established markets of the US and western Europe. The company believes its channel partners, particularly in the North American market, will play a key role in its growth strategy because of their ability to determine customer needs.
Like other PC makers, Lenovo is looking beyond the making just personal computers. In China it already sells a range of consumer products including mobile phones. Mr Yuanqing hinted that the company might expand its product offerings in other markets, but in the meantime he said the overall focus of the company will remain on innovation in the PC market and targeting high-growth market segments including consumers in developing markets and the mobile and small business segments in more mature markets.
As part of its efforts to increase its market share in China, Lenovo plans to open 800 franchise stores by the end of the year, bringing the total to 5,500.
Lenovo recently announced a new line of ThinkPad notebooks, the Z60 series. While previous ThinkPad models such as notebooks in the X and T lines have been more business- and corporate-minded, Z60 series ThinkPads will be consumer-focused.
