Lenovo confident of closing PC market gap with HP

Lenovo Group Ltd is confident of closing the PC market share gap with leader Hewlett-Packard Co through acquisitions and a strong product mix, after claiming the global No.2 spot, Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said. Lenovo, one of China's best known consumer brands, became the world's second-largest personal computer maker in the third quarter for the first time with a market share of 13.7 percent, surpassing Dell Inc's 12 percent and ranking behind HP's 18.1 percent, research firm IDC said. Gartner also reported the same rankings.

Playing catch up

Lenovo's Hong Kong-listed shares were up 2.1 percent at 0320 GMT after rising as much as 2.5 percent in early trading, outpacing the Hang Seng Index's 1.8 percent advance. "Definitely, we will continue to outgrow the market. If we outgrow the market, we will gain market share," Yang told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. Lenovo plans to continue making acquisitions to expand its market segments, with analysts saying it will have to be more aggressive in the fast-growing smartphone and tablet PC markets as consumers preferences turn to easy-to-carry devices over laptops and desktop PCs. "We are interested in any acquisitions that help us realise our strategy. Acquisitions have become a very valuable tool. We have had a couple of successful purchases," Yang said. This year, Lenovo entered a joint venture with Japan's NEC Corp and announced the acquisition of Germany's Medion AG, its biggest purchase since buying International Business Machines Corp's PC business six years ago.

"We are definitely interested in emerging markets as well. It depends on whether we can find the right target," Yang said. He said Lenovo aimed to increase its domestic market share for smartphones and tablet computers with its LePhone and LePad. Apple Inc's hugely popular iPhone and iPad have the biggest market share in China. "We want to make sure we succeed in China first, then we'll replicate that in the rest of the world. We view ourselves as not just a PC company, but also an Internet devices company."

Reuters