Chinese computer business Lenovo Group, Ltd. Bought IBM’s PC business last year, but is planning not to sell PC’s to U.S. users until it grows more in the U.S. business market. The computer maker is the third largest in the world and by far China’s biggest. According to spokespeople, Lenovo will focus on selling its ThinkPad models to large U.S. commercial customers and trying to expand its sales to small and medium-sized companies.
According to the computer company, its first and best area of focus is small and medium-sized companies with slow expansion into single consumers through tele-Web sales or via telephone and the Internet. This expansion to U.S. consumers is set for, at the earliest next year as soon as Lenovo has a chance to gauge its place among U.S. giants Dell and Hewlett-Packard. However, the computer company has already made incredible headway, growing faster than any other computer company in the first quarter of 2005 after it bought IBM’s PC business in May. The company is in possession of approximately 6.4 percent of the global PC market.
However, typical U.S. consumers do not have brand awareness yet of Lenovo. In order to surmount this obstacle, the computer business will keep the ThinkPad name created by IBM for the time being until expanding to small businesses and individuals when it hopes to sell its computers under its own Lenovo name.
Unfortunately, many critics in the U.S. have insinuated that Lenovo is a threat to national security. In order to attempt to disprove these security concerns, the computer business welcomed U.S. investigation after a U.S. State Department bought over 15,000 of its computers. Security concerns have been based on the fact that Lenovo’s largest shareholder is a company affiliated with the Chinese government, a fact that has prompted some to believe Lenovo computers have been used to gather State Department intelligence for China.
Spokespeople for the computer business have confidently asserted that the company is a purely capitalist enterprise, run by its own management and founders, and that the government has never been involved in important decisions or the daily operations.
Added By: Joshua Feinberg
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