At a huge electronics show in Berlin, Lenovo’s top European executive says “hybrids” – laptops that convert into tablets under the Yoga brand name – are crucial to driving PC sales.

He also says Lenovo will top HP as top PC seller in Europe by 2015.

Lenovo is hoping hybrid computers — which can turn from laptops into tablets with a flip of the lid — will spur growth in the ailing PC market and win back consumers who are attracted by sleek, lightweight tablets, said Gianfranco Lanci at the IFA gadget show. Lanci leads Lenovo operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

More Yoga platform models aimed at buyers who want to be able to use their device in the office, in bed or in the kitchen were unveiled in Berlin along with a new smartphone.

“We see the usage model changing,” Lanci said.

Lenovo, which acquired IBM’s computer business in 2005, became the world’s top PC maker ahead of HP in the second quarter, with a market share of 16.7 percent. But like other manufacturers, it has struggled with waning consumer demand for desktop and laptop models.

In response, Lenovo is offering more hybrid, or multi-mode, computers. Some, such as Lenovo’s new Yoga 2 Pro, can also be propped up like a tent or stand with the keyboard folded back for movie viewing and video chat.

Business and budget models, called Thinkpad Yoga and Flex, are also being released later this year.

Lenovo did present its new Vibe X smartphone and S5000 tablet in Berlin, but insisted they didn’t signal a departure from its focus on computers.

“PC is our core business,” said Lanci.

European Growth

Lenovo also sees “significant” potential to expand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Lanci told Bloomberg news in an interview.

“We want to become number one within the next 18 months – let’s say by the beginning of 2015,” Lanci said. “There’s very big growth opportunities on PCs in the whole region and there’s still room to grow.”

While HP held onto its lead in the region in the second quarter with 18 percent of market share, it’s lost ground as Lenovo, which has its headquarters in Beijing and Morrisville, North Carolina, has been gaining, according to data from Gartner Inc. Lenovo accounted for 12 percent of shipments for the period, surpassing Acer Inc.

Michael Thacker, a spokesman for Palo Alto, California- based Hewlett-Packard, declined to comment.

Lenovo is branching out beyond PCs as well. It unveiled a “premium” device for its smartphone lineup today in Berlin in a challenge to market leaders Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. The Vibe X has a 5-inch (12.7-centimeter) display and runs Google Inc.’s Android 4.2 system. It will go on sale in China next month and will expand outside the country starting in December, the company said in a statement.

Entering Europe

“We plan to enter Europe by mid-next year” with the device, Lanci said in the interview. The price will be at the high end of Lenovo’s range of smartphones outside China — 149 euros to 499 euros ($200 to $650).

Lenovo rose to become the second-largest smartphone vendor in China and the fourth-largest globally with inexpensive handsets. Now it plans to go upscale with devices that can pose a more direct threat to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 or Apple’s iPhone. Lenovo released its flagship K900 in May, and the Vibe X expands that “premium smartphone portfolio,” the company said.

Lenovo is also setting goals for 5 percent market share in tablets in the EMEA region this year and 10 percent in 2014. “We need to bring tablets at the same level of PCs,” Lanci said. “That will take at least two years.”

Organic Growth

To keep up with its expansion plans, Lenovo is “open to acquisitions if they make financial sense from a geographic and product perspective,” Lanci said. Still, “we don’t really rely on acquisitions to grow — we can grow organically,” and the company isn’t looking into any specific purchase now, he said.

“The investment needed in the smartphone and tablet businesses is much more than what you need in PCs — this is why we will see more consolidation,” Lanci said. “If you don’t have enough scale, you’re not able to compete.”

All three divisions are making money, with the PC division generating a higher profit margin because tablets and smartphones require more investment, Lanci said at a press conference today.

“We are very careful about balancing profitability in all divisions,” Lanci said.

[LENOVO ARCHIVE: Check out eight years of Lenovo stories as reported in WRAL Tech Wire.]