Lenovo CEO Outlines Strategy to Challenge HP in PC Market

Lenovo has already overtaken Dell as the world s second-largest PC vendor. Now the China-based company is taking aim at the top spot occupied by Hewlett-Packard.

Gartner analysts said Oct. 12 that Lenovo in the third quarter grabbed 13.5 percent of PC shipments worldwide, leap-frogging over Dell to become No. 2 behind HP in the sluggish market. During the third quarter in 2010, Lenovo ranked fourth, with 11.1 percent market share.

Gartner analysts attributed Lenovo s surge to a new joint venture with NEC in Japan and the vendor s aggressive marketing to both corporate and consumer PC markets.

However, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang said he is not satisfied with the No. 2 spot. His goal is to grow Lenovo into the largest PC maker in the world. Yang isn t giving a timeframe, but said in a statement that the combination of Lenovo s aggressive marketing push the company two quarters ago was in fourth place, trailing HP, Dell and Acer and current competitive environment positions the company as a strong challenger to ultimately become the global market leader.

“We are growing in the enterprise and the consumer space–and our customers know we are fully committed to the PC market for the long-term,” Yang said, in an apparent dig at HP, which in August said it was planning to spin off its $41 billion PC business, but is now reconsidering the move under new CEO Meg Whitman. “At the same time, we will continue to invest in innovative products that will help drive the convergence of technologies and services across all four screens smartphones, tablets, PCs and smart TV. We must deliver a great user experience across all platforms to achieve our goal and become the leading personal technology company in the world. I believe we have the products, the team, the strategy and the momentum to achieve this long-term aspiration.”

HP leads the market with 17.7 percent–that was up from 17.3 percent during the same quarter last year–according to Gartner’s numbers. Dell is in third with 11.6 percent, Acer is fourth with 10.6 percent and Asus rounds out the top five, with 6.2 percent.

In total, almost 91.8 million units were shipped in the third quarter, more than the 89 million that were shipped during the same period in 2010, Gartner said.

Despite the bump in the numbers, the PC market is still a difficult and volatile place, according to Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.

"The inventory buildup, which slowed growth the last four quarters, mostly cleared out during the third quarter of this year; however, the PC industry has been performing below normal seasonality," Kitagawa said in a statement. "As expected, back-to-school PC sales were disappointing in mature markets, confirming that the consumer PC market continues to be weak. The popularity of non-PC devices, including media tablets, such as the iPad and smartphones, took consumers’ spending away from PCs.”

To read the original eWeek article, click here: Lenovo CEO: We Will Be the World’s Top PC Maker