[photopress:amelio_bill_03.jpg,full,alignright]Integrating IBM’s PC division may continue to tax China’s No. 1 computer maker but, generally, the growth is up. Sadly, this means some jobs cuts as Lenovo focuses its attention on other markets. But if Lenovo is pushing ahead with innovation as seen in The Lenovo Tapes we published on the 20th then it will overcome.
Lenovo President and Chief Executive Officer William J. Amelio said the company is cutting 5% of its work force. That is 5% after a fair number of cuts that were made last year. This may cheer up investors. It does not cheer up the poor sods who have just lost a job.
This may be the last of it. There’s been a major overhaul of management, with the departure members of the board who were ex-IBM being replaced by people from Dell like Bill Amelio.
(Never confuse him with Gil Amelio who was at Apple and seemed not to make too good a job of it. Bill and his wife, Jamie founded Caring for Cambodia, This non-profit organization aims to educate the children of Cambodia through building schools, training teachers, and providing for basic needs. Which makes Bill one of the good guys.)
The company has also launched a new line of PCs in the U.S. in an attempt to win over consumers and small-business customers and promote awareness of the Lenovo brand name. So far it has not worked because Lenovo insists on being seen as a grey box company.
It should try something outrageously experimental. These will not sell in number worth considering; but they will pull in immense publicity on the Net.
What was Lenovo doing sitting on the Lenovo tapes which are some of the most exciting ideas to come out of personal computing in a long time? Waiting for someone to whisper in the corporate ear?
Although the IBM deal catapulted Lenovo into the top tier of PC makers globally, the company has been losing market share. On Friday, market research firm IDC showed that in the first quarter Taiwanese rival Acer had climbed into a tie with Lenovo at 6.7%.
Bill Amelio said, ‘We believe the ‘tipping point’ is within reach. If we can combine optimal cost competitiveness and efficient delivery capabilities with innovative, best-engineered products, we can generate more profitable growth, gain market share, and make further reinvestments into the business, fueling more growth.’
Source: Business Week