Lenovo Group Limited is a Chinese multinational technology company with headquarters in Beijing, China, and Morrisville, North Carolina, United States.[1] It sells personal computers, tablet computers, smartphones, workstations, servers, electronic storage devices, IT management software and smart televisions. In the second quarter of 2013 Lenovo was the world's largest personal computer vendor by unit sales.[3] It markets the ThinkPad line of notebook computers and the ThinkCentre line of desktops.[4]
Lenovo has operations in more than 60 countries and sells its products in around 160 countries. Lenovo was founded in Beijing in 1984 and incorporated in Hong Kong in 1988 under its previous name, Legend. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng China-Affiliated Corporations Index, often referred to as "Red Chips".
Liu founded Lenovo in 1984 with a group of ten engineers in Beijing with 200,000 yuan. Lenovo officially states that it was founded on 1 November 1984. Lenovo's incorporation was approved by the Chinese government on the same day. Jia Xufu, one of the founders of Lenovo, indicates the first meeting in preparation for starting the company was held on 17 October of the same year. Eleven people, the entirety of the initial staff, attended. Each of the founders were middle-aged members of the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The 200,000 yuan used as start-up capital was approved by Zeng Maochao. The name for the company agreed upon at this meeting was the Chinese Academy of Sciences Computer Technology Research Institute New Technology Development Company.[6]
Lenovo acquired IBM's personal computer business in 2005.[8] Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's personal computer division accelerated access to foreign markets while improving both its branding and technology.[9] Lenovo paid US$1.25 billion for IBM's computer business and assumed an additional US$500 million of IBM's debt. This acquisition made Lenovo the third-largest computer maker worldwide by volume.[10]
In regards to the purchase of IBM's personal computer division, Liu Chuanzhi said, "We benefited in three ways from the IBM acquisition. We got the ThinkPad brand, IBM's more advanced PC manufacturing technology and the company's international resources, such as its global sales channels and operation teams. These three elements have shored up our sales revenue in the past several years.
IBM acquired an 18.9% shareholding in Lenovo in 2005 as part of Lenovo's purchase of IBM's personal computing division.[11] Since then, IBM has steadily reduced its holdings of Lenovo stock. In July 2008, IBM's interest in Lenovo fell below the 5% threshold that mandates public disclosure.[12]
Although Lenovo acquired the right to use the IBM brand name for five years after its acquisition of IBM's personal computer business, Lenovo used it for only three years. On 7 December 2007, an event called "Lenovo Pride Day" was held. After words of encouragement from management, employees ceremoniously peeled the IBM logos off their ThinkPads and replaced them with Lenovo stickers.
Lenovo sold its smartphone and tablet division in 2008 for US$100 million in order to focus on personal computers and then paid US$200 million to buy it back in November 2009.[13] As of 2009, the mobile division ranked third in terms of unit share in China's mobile handset market.[14] Lenovo invested CN¥100 million in a fund dedicated to providing seed funding for mobile application development for its LeGarden online app store. As of 2010, LeGarden had more than 1,000 programs available for the LePhone. At the same time, LeGarden counted 2,774 individual developers and 542 developer companies as members.
On January 27, 2011, Lenovo formed a joint venture to produce personal computers with Japanese electronics firm NEC. The companies said in a statement they will establish a new company called Lenovo NEC Holdings B.V., which will be registered in the Netherlands. NEC will receive US$175 million from Lenovo through the issuance of Lenovo's shares. Lenovo will own a 51% stake in the joint venture, while NEC will hold a 49% stake. Lenovo has a five-year option to expand its stake in the joint venture.
In June 2011, Lenovo announced that it planned to acquire control of Medion, a German electronics manufacturing company. Lenovo said the acquisition would double its share of the German computer market, making it the third-largest vendor by sales (after Acer and Hewlett-Packard). The deal, which closed in the third quarter of the same year, was the first in which a Chinese company acquired a well-known German company.
Lenovo and EMC formed LenovoEMC as a joint venture to offer network attached storage (NAS) solutions. LenovoEMC's products were formerly offered under the Iomega brand name. After the formation of LenovoEMC, Iomega ceased to exist as business unit. LenovoEMC's products are designed for small and medium sized that do not have the budgets for enterprise-class data storage. LenovoEMC is part of a broader partnership between the two companies announced in August 2012.[31] This partnership also includes an effort to develop x86-based servers and allowing Lenovo to act as an OEM for some EMC hardware. Lenovo is expected to benefit from the relatively high profit margins of the NAS market. LenovoEMC is part of Lenovo's Enterprise Products Group.
Lenovo launched the LePhone in China in order to compete against other smart phones. These same phones are marketed as IdeaPhones outside of China. In early 2013, Lenovo's CEO announced that the company would start selling mobile phones in the US by the end of the year.
As of January 2013, Lenovo only manufactures phones that use the Android operating system from Google. Numerous press reports indicated that Lenovo plans to release a phone based on Microsoft's Windows 8. According to JD Howard, a vice president at Lenovo's mobile division, the company will release a Windows-based phone if there is market demand. A Windows-based phone from Lenovo would be a potentially formidable competitor against Nokia's Lumia line of smartphones.
In November 2011, Lenovo said it would soon unveil a smart television product called LeTV, expected for release in the first quarter of 2012. "The PC, communications and TV industries are currently undergoing a “smart” transformation. In the future, users will have many smart devices and will desire an integrated experience of hardware, software and cloud services." Liu Jun, president of Lenovo's mobile-Internet and digital-home-business division.
ThinkPad is a line of business-oriented laptop computers known for their boxy black design, modeled after a traditional Japanese lunchbox.[39] ThinkPads were originally an IBM product; they have been manufactured and sold by Lenovo since early 2005, following its acquisition of IBM's personal computer division. The ThinkPad has been used in space and is the only laptop certified for use on the International Space Station.[40]
Shipments of Think-branded computers have doubled since Lenovo's takeover of the brand, with operating margins thought to be above 5%.[41] Lenovo has aggressively expanded the ThinkPad brand away from traditional laptop computers in favor of tablets and hybrid devices such as ThinkPad Helix and the ThinkPad Twist.
Source: Wikipedia
Lenovo has operations in more than 60 countries and sells its products in around 160 countries. Lenovo was founded in Beijing in 1984 and incorporated in Hong Kong in 1988 under its previous name, Legend. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng China-Affiliated Corporations Index, often referred to as "Red Chips".
Liu founded Lenovo in 1984 with a group of ten engineers in Beijing with 200,000 yuan. Lenovo officially states that it was founded on 1 November 1984. Lenovo's incorporation was approved by the Chinese government on the same day. Jia Xufu, one of the founders of Lenovo, indicates the first meeting in preparation for starting the company was held on 17 October of the same year. Eleven people, the entirety of the initial staff, attended. Each of the founders were middle-aged members of the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The 200,000 yuan used as start-up capital was approved by Zeng Maochao. The name for the company agreed upon at this meeting was the Chinese Academy of Sciences Computer Technology Research Institute New Technology Development Company.[6]
Lenovo acquired IBM's personal computer business in 2005.[8] Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's personal computer division accelerated access to foreign markets while improving both its branding and technology.[9] Lenovo paid US$1.25 billion for IBM's computer business and assumed an additional US$500 million of IBM's debt. This acquisition made Lenovo the third-largest computer maker worldwide by volume.[10]
In regards to the purchase of IBM's personal computer division, Liu Chuanzhi said, "We benefited in three ways from the IBM acquisition. We got the ThinkPad brand, IBM's more advanced PC manufacturing technology and the company's international resources, such as its global sales channels and operation teams. These three elements have shored up our sales revenue in the past several years.
IBM acquired an 18.9% shareholding in Lenovo in 2005 as part of Lenovo's purchase of IBM's personal computing division.[11] Since then, IBM has steadily reduced its holdings of Lenovo stock. In July 2008, IBM's interest in Lenovo fell below the 5% threshold that mandates public disclosure.[12]
Although Lenovo acquired the right to use the IBM brand name for five years after its acquisition of IBM's personal computer business, Lenovo used it for only three years. On 7 December 2007, an event called "Lenovo Pride Day" was held. After words of encouragement from management, employees ceremoniously peeled the IBM logos off their ThinkPads and replaced them with Lenovo stickers.
Lenovo sold its smartphone and tablet division in 2008 for US$100 million in order to focus on personal computers and then paid US$200 million to buy it back in November 2009.[13] As of 2009, the mobile division ranked third in terms of unit share in China's mobile handset market.[14] Lenovo invested CN¥100 million in a fund dedicated to providing seed funding for mobile application development for its LeGarden online app store. As of 2010, LeGarden had more than 1,000 programs available for the LePhone. At the same time, LeGarden counted 2,774 individual developers and 542 developer companies as members.
On January 27, 2011, Lenovo formed a joint venture to produce personal computers with Japanese electronics firm NEC. The companies said in a statement they will establish a new company called Lenovo NEC Holdings B.V., which will be registered in the Netherlands. NEC will receive US$175 million from Lenovo through the issuance of Lenovo's shares. Lenovo will own a 51% stake in the joint venture, while NEC will hold a 49% stake. Lenovo has a five-year option to expand its stake in the joint venture.
In June 2011, Lenovo announced that it planned to acquire control of Medion, a German electronics manufacturing company. Lenovo said the acquisition would double its share of the German computer market, making it the third-largest vendor by sales (after Acer and Hewlett-Packard). The deal, which closed in the third quarter of the same year, was the first in which a Chinese company acquired a well-known German company.
Lenovo and EMC formed LenovoEMC as a joint venture to offer network attached storage (NAS) solutions. LenovoEMC's products were formerly offered under the Iomega brand name. After the formation of LenovoEMC, Iomega ceased to exist as business unit. LenovoEMC's products are designed for small and medium sized that do not have the budgets for enterprise-class data storage. LenovoEMC is part of a broader partnership between the two companies announced in August 2012.[31] This partnership also includes an effort to develop x86-based servers and allowing Lenovo to act as an OEM for some EMC hardware. Lenovo is expected to benefit from the relatively high profit margins of the NAS market. LenovoEMC is part of Lenovo's Enterprise Products Group.
Lenovo launched the LePhone in China in order to compete against other smart phones. These same phones are marketed as IdeaPhones outside of China. In early 2013, Lenovo's CEO announced that the company would start selling mobile phones in the US by the end of the year.
As of January 2013, Lenovo only manufactures phones that use the Android operating system from Google. Numerous press reports indicated that Lenovo plans to release a phone based on Microsoft's Windows 8. According to JD Howard, a vice president at Lenovo's mobile division, the company will release a Windows-based phone if there is market demand. A Windows-based phone from Lenovo would be a potentially formidable competitor against Nokia's Lumia line of smartphones.
In November 2011, Lenovo said it would soon unveil a smart television product called LeTV, expected for release in the first quarter of 2012. "The PC, communications and TV industries are currently undergoing a “smart” transformation. In the future, users will have many smart devices and will desire an integrated experience of hardware, software and cloud services." Liu Jun, president of Lenovo's mobile-Internet and digital-home-business division.
ThinkPad is a line of business-oriented laptop computers known for their boxy black design, modeled after a traditional Japanese lunchbox.[39] ThinkPads were originally an IBM product; they have been manufactured and sold by Lenovo since early 2005, following its acquisition of IBM's personal computer division. The ThinkPad has been used in space and is the only laptop certified for use on the International Space Station.[40]
Shipments of Think-branded computers have doubled since Lenovo's takeover of the brand, with operating margins thought to be above 5%.[41] Lenovo has aggressively expanded the ThinkPad brand away from traditional laptop computers in favor of tablets and hybrid devices such as ThinkPad Helix and the ThinkPad Twist.
Source: Wikipedia
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