He’s known as “YY.” But his nickname really should be “Mr. Attack.”

If only one thing has become clear to most observers about Lenovo’s top executive Yang Yuanqing since the company bought IBM’s PC business a decade ago, it’s this:

He’s always on the attack, looking to grow the world’s No. 1 PC manufacturer.

His new target of opportunity to attack: What he calls the “social mobile Internet.”

And that means continuing change for the company, which already has diversified into a global powerhouse. (No. 1 in PCs, No. 3 in smartphones, No. 3 in servers, No. 3 in tablets.)

Does Lenovo face challenges? of course. Recent job cuts in the server business based in RTP. Buyouts earlier this year. The adware snafu. A recent security problem. Declining smartphone sales in the first quarter. But those challenges haven’t stopped Yang from pushing, from urging, from mandating a continuous strategy for innovation and growth.

Perhaps the photo with this blog symbolizes best YY’s thinking: Taking a “selfie” with several thousand Lenovo workers in the background during a recent “kickoff” meeting in Raleigh. He’s also a blogger. Yes. YY believes in social.

And in social he sees growth beyond just selling gadgets, gizmos and machines.So from his attack and protect strategy in the past (making sure to guard Lenovo’s traditional home markets of China and growing aggressively around the world) to the “attacking” theme Yang spelled out Thursday in the summary of Lenovo’s financials for the past year, YY is always thinking aggressively.

“Don’t doubt me”

And he does so with self-assurance.

“Don’t doubt me,” he said over and over in 2014 after YY’s stunning $5 billion deals for Motorola Mobility and Lenovo’s x86 server business. Both were losing money, yet in each Yang saw the opportunity to further diversify Lenovo from PCs into an Internet-connected device company. From soup to nuts, Lenovo would sell more smartphones, more tablets, more smart TVs, more gaming systems. The list keeps growing.

The new shift is the “social mobile Internet” – what others have called the “Internet of Things” or as Cisco’s John Chambers describes a world of connected devices: “The Internet of Everything.”

YY’s play is NOT just devices, however.

Targeting consumer experience

It’s providing a host of services to consumers and businesses so they can make better use of their gadgets and hardware.

It’s providing software, the “cloud” and a personal touch.

YY spelled out his strategy recently at the Raleigh kickoff.

He reiterated his thinking in a wrapup of fiscal year 2015 in which Lenovo (now with 60,000 employees) grew revenues to a record $46 billion.

“The Group will continue to focus on protecting and driving profitability in the core PC business, while attacking in fast growing mobile, enterprise and ecosystem/cloud businesses,” Yang said, with Group referring to Lenovo.

The “attacking” focuses on “the rise of new technology and market trends, particularly the social mobile internet, has posed market opportunities and challenges as consumer behavior is changing.”

More “touch points”

So how does YY propose to cash in?

“The Group is undergoing a transformation process, changing its focus from a product-centric to customer-centric company; from selling products to providing a distinctive experience & engaging customers. The Group will increase the number and quality of touch points with customers beyond purchase, establishing a stronger connection and engagement with customers.”

So look for Lenovo to become more “personal” even as it grows ever bigger. Lenovo also has changed its branding campaign to reflect the YY strategy.

“From the product perspective, the Group will broaden from hardware to end to end experiences beyond devices,” he says.

“This will include a focus on personalization and connectivity (to networks, device to device & cloud services). In addition, the Group will pursue innovations from its sales, manufacturing, services and marketing process, to further enhance its user experiences. The Group believes this transformation will position Lenovo well to capture the growth opportunities arising from this trend.”

To further YY’s strategy, Lenovo recently underwent a reorganization in both business groups and in leadership. The PC group and enterprise (servers) are part of one group (PCG/EBG). Mobile is at the core of another (MBG/ECS). The latter is where YY expects to make his Internet of Things play.

“MBG/ECS will prioritize growth and innovation by creating strong affinity between device and service in the mobile internet market to capture those growth opportunities from new trends such as the Internet of Things,” he explained.

Next week in Beijing is hosting a global tech show to showcase its growing inventory of products, gadgets and services.

And Mr. Attack is one of the keynotes where he no doubt will spell out his latest attack strategy in great detail.