Word: lenovo
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Lenovo was founded in Beijing in 1984 by 11 free-thinking researchers with $25,000 from a science academy. It markets PCs for every possible customer, from the top-of-the-line Pentium speedster to $300 bare-bones desktops. The growth potential for Lenovo in its home market appears limitless. IDC forecasts that PC sales in China will jump 57% from 2006 to 2010, to 36 million units. The U.S. market will reach 68 million units...
Amelio wants to replicate Lenovo's China business model around the world. Execs have jetted to cities from Paris to Bangalore to teach local managers how things are done in China. The goal: penetrate markets by building close ties to both major resellers and mom-and-pop computer centers to target fast-growing small businesses. Then, back up the sales effort with highly efficient and flexible product-supply systems developed in China. "We have a model that works," says Amelio. "We have to get it rolling everywhere...
...company has already used Chinese know-how to score impressive results in that other great Asian emerging market, India. After being trained in Beijing, Lenovo's India managers increased the number of resellers nearly 40%, to 1,100 so far this year. Chinese-designed PCs were introduced to expand the product line and Bollywood stars hired to pump up the brand. India is also introducing Lenovo's SMS information system, by which distributors send daily sales reports. That allows managers to quickly adjust prices and product mix based on real-time data. Results? Lenovo's India sales jumped...
Amelio is also employing a tactic used by other Asian upstarts, like Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor--value for money. Lenovo is packing its products with goodies and charging less than other PC brands, especially in a new series of computers called Lenovo 3000. Launched in February, the 3000s are an amalgam of Lenovo and IBM design and technology. The desktops are based on a Chinese product that features a one-button fix-it process to restore virus-damaged systems. They also feature ThinkPad-quality keyboards--all at a very reasonable $349. In comparison with other major brands, Lenovo notebooks ranked...
...biggest obstacle for Lenovo's U.S. business is an inefficient supply chain. Order a computer from Dell in the U.S., and it usually arrives within 10 days. Order from Lenovo and it could come as quickly. Or you could go on vacation for a couple of weeks, and it may or may not be there when you return. "Outside of China, our supply chain is not world class," Amelio admits. To help fix the problem, he poached Dell's Gerry Smith to run supply-chain management--a Dell specialty...