Lenovo shares drop 4% as Google sells $221 million in shares. The move helped send Lenovo shares to a 52-week low in value.

Plus: Lenovo is advising customers to uninstall Accelerator Application. 

The world’s No. 1 PC maker saw its stock price dip on the Hong Kong stock exchange after news emerged that Google was selling 371 million shares worth some $221 million on Wednesday.

Shares fell 4 percent, matching a 52-week low of $4.50 in Hong Kong dollars at one point.

Google gained more than 500 million shares of Lenovo in the Motorola Mobility acquisition two years ago.

The Google news added more pressure to Lenovo share value following last week’s financial report in which Lenovo reported its first loss in six years.

“Google’s offering constitutes about 3.3% of Lenovo’s total shares outstanding. It is not a large amount but signals the search giant’s lack of confidence,” Barron’s reported.

Read more at:

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/AC/Lenovo-stock-hits-multiyear-low-on-Google-sale-report

Uninstall advisory

Lenovo is advising customers to uninstall its Lenovo Accelerator Application on machines preloaded with Windows 10 after a security vulnerability was discovered.

Lenovo is one of five manufacturers warned about problems with pre-installed software, often called “bloatware.”

“Duo Security researcher Mikhail Davidov reported the holes that would allow eavesdropping attackers to tap into Accelerator’s unencrypted update channels to compromise users,” the U.K. Register tech news website reported.

Lenovo’s response, as noted by The Register:

“A vulnerability was identified in the Lenovo Accelerator Application software which could lead to exploitation by an attacker with man-in-the-middle capabilities,” Lenovo says.

“The vulnerability resides within the update mechanism where a Lenovo server is queried to identify if application updates are available.

“Lenovo recommends customers uninstall Lenovo Accelerator Application.”

Read more at:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/02/lenovo_says_dump_our_support_app_after_maninthemiddle_diddle/