Lenovo Group Ltd. was named the world’s No. 2 personal-computer maker by Gartner Inc. and International Data Corp. on Thursday, and Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said the Chinese company will keep pursuing acquisitions to boost growth. According to the data, HP remained the top dog in PC market share, Lenovo vaulted to No. 2 as its share rose from 11.1% to 13.5%, while Dell dropped to 3rd place as its share came down to 11.6%.
Speaking at a company event in Austin, Texas, Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell said his company may ship fewer units than Lenovo, but will enjoy greater PC revenue and profits because it sells higher-end machines. “We at Dell are much more focused on revenue and profits as opposed to the number of units sold,” he said.
Only a few months ago, Lenovo’s founder and chairman, told the Financial Times: “We are lucky that Steve Jobs has such a bad temper and doesn’t care about China. If Apple were to spend the same effort on the Chinese consumer as we do, we would be in trouble.” He went on to say.. “Steve Jobs is a genius. He is the exception to my rule,” he said. “My theory is that a manager needs to be the string on which he puts one pearl after another. But Jobs himself is a big pearl.”
Of Steve Jobs death yesterday, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yuan said:
“Today the world lost one of its greatest innovators and visionaries with the passing of Steve Jobs. His achievements are unmatched in our time. We admired his spirit, his creativity and his passion. He not only changed the technology industry, he changed the world and made it better. While we will all feel this enormous loss, I am confident that this industry will take to heart the lessons Steve taught us about innovation. Steve led this industry like a beacon for the past decade. As a competitor, he helped ensure all of us pushed even harder, and I am confident his legacy will continue to energize the industry for many years to come. His spirit will carry on, and it will inspire all of us to achieve more. We would like to express the sympathy of all 27,000 Lenovo employees worldwide to his family and friends, and we joining the world in mourning his passing and celebrating his life.”
According to Bryan Ma, an analyst at research firm IDC, PC shipments in China rose 14 percent to 18.5 million units during the second quarter, the first time they surpassed the number in the U.S., where they fell 4.8 percent to 17.7 million. The value of computer shipments in China in the second quarter was $11.9 billion, compared with $11.7 billion for the U.S., IDC’s Ma said. China accounted for 22 percent of the global PC market by shipments, a percentage point more than the U.S., he said.
Since the majority of PC’s are now being bought in China, having ThinkPads built to order and shipped directly from China is now looking like a sound strategy on Lenovo’s part.
It would still be nice if all shipping was expedited.
In a stunning announcement this week, HP announced that it would separate its PC division within 18 months — either spinning it off or selling it. It also announced that it would immediately discontinue making products that run WebOS and purchase software- maker Autonomy Corp. for $10.3 billion. Starting at 3am Saturday morning, HP will begin its HP TouchPad Fire Sale with 32 gig models going for $149 and 16 gig models for $99. At time of writing, these models are going for $499 and $349 respectively.
Warning. There are very, very few applications for the WebOS. It may end up being a cheap surfing machine. At least there is Flash support.
Currently, Lenovo is the third largest computer maker behind HP and Dell. A purchase may also help the company benefit from the lower costs associated with economies of scale, said Steven Tseng, a Hong Kong-based analyst with Samsung Securities Co.
“In a mature business, volume is everything,” Tseng said. “From Lenovo’s perspective then, why not buy the brand and expand market share? If they were to acquire HP, the difference with other competitors would become huge.”
One wonders if Pavilions, ProBooks, EliteBooks will become ThinkPads in the near future.
Lenovo is sponsoring a 10 Second Hero Contest with the grand prize winner receiving $50,000 for charity of his/her choice and an IdeaPad laptop.
The 10 Second Hero Contest is a nod to Lenovo’s 10 second boot up campaign.
The contest calls on “doers” in countries around the world to submit 150 words explaining a good deed they or an organization they know of accomplished in 10 seconds.
Professional racecar driver Danica Patrick knows that a few seconds can make a BIG difference. That’s why she is partnering with Lenovo to reward others who are positively impacting the world in just 10 seconds. Learn how your actions can win up to $50,000 USD for the charity of your choice.
The top 24 entries as judged by Lenovo will win a Lenovo IdeaPad.
Lenovo has just released the new IdeaPad Tablet K1 running Android 3.1 — its first tablet outside China. It comes in two color combinations: White and Silver & Red and Silver.
Lenovo plans to release a Windows 7 Tablet later this year called the IdeaPad Tablet P1.
The IdeaPad K1 is currently on sale on the Lenovo US website for $499.99 – 10% off eCoupon: ECOUPONS10C = $449 with an estimated ship date of 7/30/2011. (Exclusive eCoupon courtesy of eCoupons.com)
Features:
Android 3.1 installed, a rich interactive platform optimized specifically for tablet devices
Full Flash® support so you can fully enjoy your favorite online sites
HD display and HDMI output for vibrant resolution on your tablet or on a monitor
More than 30 apps preloaded, plus access to Lenovo’s App Shop
Front and rear cameras for better two-way video chats
Integrated cloud storage to save and share your files across multiple devices
Technical Specs:
NVIDIA® Tegra™ T20 1.0GHz Processor
Android™ 3.1
10.4” x 7.4” x .5” and less than 1.7 pounds
Up to 10 hours battery life
Up to 1GB DDR2 memory, up to 64GB SSD storage
Integrated Bluetooth® and 802.11b/g/n WiFi connectivity
MicroSD card reader, mini HDMI connector and optional docking port
Integrated front (2M) and back (5M) mounted webcam
Lenovo has just released an updated ThinkPad X Series 11″ laptop — the ThinkPad X121e. Like the recently released ThinkPad E320, it is currently on sale on Lenovo Japan, Lenovo Australia and Lenovo New Zealand’s websites and features the new Intel i3 Processor and HD Screen.
ThinkPad X121e Specs:
Processor: Intel Core i3-2357M (1.3GHz, 3MB L3)
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium (32 bit) upgradeable to Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
Display type: 11.6″ Wide HD, AntiGlare, WWAN – Black
System graphics: Intel Core i3-23570M Processor
Total memory: 2 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 (1 DIMM) upgradeable to 8 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
Hard drive: 250GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm upgradeable to 128GB Solid State Drive, 2.5″
Battery: 6 Cell Li-Ion Battery
Bluetooth: None or Broadcom Bluetooth 3.0 with antenna
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: ThinkPad 1×1 b/g/n upgradeable to ThinkPad 2×2 a/b/g/n
Integrated mobile broadband: Integrated Mobile Broadband – Upgradable
Warranty: 1 Year Depot/Express Warranty
The Lenovo ThinkPad X121e will be available for sale in North America this week.
Lenovo has just released an updated ThinkPad E or Edge series 13″ laptop — the ThinkPad E320. It is currently on sale on Lenovo Japan, Lenovo Australia and Lenovo New Zealand’s websites.
Notably, the ThinkPad E320 features an upgraded Intel Core i3 or i5 Processor and HD Screen and Webcam.
Initial ThinkPad E320 specs:
Intel Core i3-2310M Processor (2.10GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) up to Intel Core i5-2410M Processor (2.30GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.9GHz
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (32 bit) or Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
Display type: 13.3″ W HD (1366 x 768)LED, Anti-Glare, Low-light sensitive HD Webcam, Midnight Black (w/o WWAN) or 13.3″ W HD (1366 x 768)LED, Anti-Glare, Low-light sensitive HD Webcam, Midnight Black (w/o WWAN)
System graphics: Intel HD Graphics
Total memory: 2 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 (1 DIMM) up to 8 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
Pointing device: UltraNav without Fingerprint Reader
Hard drive: 250GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm up to 128GB Solid State Drive, 2.5″
Battery: 6 cell Li-Ion Battery 62.4 Wh
Bluetooth: None upgradeable to Broadcom Bluetooth 3.0 with antenna
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: ThinkPad 1×1 b/g/n upgradeable to ThinkPad 2×2 a/b/g/n
Integrated mobile broadband: No Wireless WAN support
Warranty: 1 Year Depot/Express Warranty
The ThinkPad E320 will be available for sale in North America sometime this week.
A report is circulating about a handful of new ultra-thin laptops coming from Lenovo, Acer, and Asustek. There are no details on size or other specs, but it is noted that they are intended to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air on both price and performance.
The Lenovo ultra-thin laptop will be an IdeaPad branded product, manufactured by Pegatron and due in the third quarter of the year. Pricing is expected to be under $1000, to offer a strong alternative to Apple and to avoid the same fate as Dell’s recently axed Adamo lineup.
