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COVERSTORYLenovo: Quality maintains brandIn the years since Lenovo acquired IBM’s PC-manufacturing business,they’ve maintained brand-equity through quality controlBy Teresa LeungI manufacturing business in 2005.The acquisition has brought the vendorbrand awareness and an internationalcustomer base, but a solid foothold in theglobal market requires more.“We needed to put effort into reorganization,consolidation, and creatingsynergy after the acquisition,” said Lenovo. “Lenovo also needed to showcustomers around the globe our commitmentto quality.”“Some enterprise customers had qual-provider,” said Wong. “We must maintainthe standard of quality for both ourproducts and services.”Four years after the acquisition, Wongsaid customers are happy with Lenovo’sproduct quality. years after the acquisition, Wong noted.“There’s no negative impact on (thebrand],” said Wong. “This proves thatityof ThinkPad machines.”Despite the fact that the Big Bluebrand was dropped soon, the acquisitionwas a smart move. “The acquisition spedup our venture into the global arena,”said Wong. “Almost half of our US$14billion revenue is [now] from overseas. tion,it would take us much longer toachieve the same because the Lenovobrand wasn’t well known before.”ChallengesLike other IT vendors, Lenovo is facingthe tough task of growing revenuesand business. The company’s sales US$2.77 billion and incurred an operat-“The commercial market, which isour focus in the overseas market, was said Wong. “That explains the negativegrowth we had in the last quarter of theprevious year.”The consumer market is still experi-hit when Lenovo was ready to make asplash in the overseas consumer market.to consumer products,” said Wong. “Af-slowed down our rollout.”According to him, Lenovo’s presentturemarkets including North America,Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and and grow revenues in emerging marketsHeadcount worldwide: About21,200including US, Japan, Hong Kong,Taiwan, Korea, and EuropeThinner PC margins turingwas a high margin business, thescene is now increasingly competitiveand provides thinner margins for the majorplayers.“This is an inevitable trend,” saidWong. “Lenovo is keeping up with thelatest technology trends and offers customerswhat they need.” For instance, Le-home-users need of integrating computingand home entertainment, he added.Besides, the vendor is looking at opportunitiesout of convergence betweennotebooks and mobile phones, saidWong, adding that the company keepsan eye on various non-hardware businessopportunities.“We are looking at services that addvalue to hardware,” Wong concluded. 20 Computerworld Hong Kong Sept 2009 www.cw.com.hk