Lenovo, the computer maker which took over IBM’s personal computer division, is China’s only worldwide Olympic partner and expects the 2008 games to push it ahead of at least one of its computer-making rivals so that it ends up in the top three.
Chen Shaopeng, Lenovo’s senior vice-president and president of China operations, said, ‘In 2007 and 2008 all of our marketing campaigns will be focused on the Olympic Games.’
Lenovo’s share in China’s PC market rose to 36.7% in December 2006, compared with 32.7% late 2004. Which is excellent but China is not where the battle rages. For Lenovo the battlefield is in every other country bar China.
The firm is still struggling with poor brand awareness in overseas markets. By and large it is not known outside China and it needs brand exposure.
Take the third quarter of last year. Acer, a Taiwanese brand, was bigger than Lenovo in terms of global sales. So Acer took the coveted third place in personal computers. Acer generates about half its total sales in the United States and about 20% in Europe. If Lenovo could get the same sort of figures then it would be close to being world champion.
Lenovo is hoping the Olympics campaign will move the company closer to rivals Hewlett-Packard, Dell and past Acer. It seems an immense gamble to pin all of that on one event.
Source: China.org.cn