Lenovo, the world’s No. 4 PC-manufacturer, is further reorganizing itself in the wake of a management shakeup earlier this year.
The company, which is based in Morrisville and also operates a headquarters in Beijing, said Wednesday that it would create two business units focused on “emerging” and “mature” markets rather than organizing by geographic regions.
Lenovo also is creating two units for its products, a “Think” line that will be led by longtime IBM veteran Fran O’Sullivan and an Idea product group.
“This realignment enables Lenovo to better leverage synergies that exist between similar markets that may be separated geographically but share market dynamics that impact our customers, what products we sell and how we go to market," said Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo’s chief executive officer. "Our goal is to create a faster, more streamlined organization that can adapt quickly to target strong growth opportunities while more effectively focusing resources on our core business."
Yang stepped down as chairman to become CEO in January. He replaced William Amelio, who left as part of the management shakeup that was triggered by Lenovo’s drop in global market share and financial losses.
The Emerging Markets group will be led by Chen Shaopeng, who is currently head of operations in Asia Pacific and Russia. He is based in Beijing. Emerging markets include Africa, Asia Pacific, China, Eastern Europe, Hong Kong, India, Korea, the Middle East, Pakistan, Russia, Taiwan and Turkey.
The Mature Markets group is to be led by Milko Van Duijl, who has overseen Lenovo’s efforts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is based in Paris. Mature markets include the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Israel, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The two executives will report to Rory Read, who recently was named president and chief operating officer as part of the management changes. Read had directed the Americas Group, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Lenovo operations in Latin America will report directly to Read.
O’Sullivan, who like Read worked for IBM when it sold the PC organization to Lenovo, is now in charge of products focused on commercial customers and what Lenovo calls the “premium end” of small and medium-sized businesses.
IBM sold ThinkPad products with an emphasis on business customers.
The Idea Product Group will be directed by Lin Jun, who leads Lenovo’s consumer business group.
Lenovo announced plans to cut its work force by 2,500 people after a $97 million loss for the fourth quarter. Last week, the company said it would add 450 jobs at its Beijing operations.
Rumors have circulated that Lenovo was in renewed talks to acquire Brazilian PC-maker Positivo after talks broke off last year.
Lenovo is not in talks to acquire the PC business unit of Fujitsu, Yang told Reuters in a recent interview.
To deal with the global recession, Yang said Lenovo would focus on product innovation and emerging markets.
“Yang said Lenovo will export its successful business model in China into emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil,” China Daily reported earlier this month.
