Lenovo Group Speeding up Expansion in ASEAN

Lenovo Group Limited (SEHK: 0992), the world's No. 4 personal computer maker, is looking to expand its business in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), one of the most critical emerging markets in the world.

The ASEAN is a thrilling market to PC makers like Lenovo Group, said Xu Guangming, senior director for the Lenovo ASEAN big client sales division, noting that demand stays vigorous even in countries with a high PC penetration rate.

To optimize its business structure, the Hong Kong-listed PC titan revamped its operations into two new units this March, one focusing on emerging markets and the other, mature markets. The emerging market division, which covers countries and territories like Mainland China & Hong Kong, South Korea, India, Eastern Europe, Africa, and several counties in Southeast Asia, will be taken as a focus in the long run.

The member countries of the ASEAN are a market of great potential, as most of them have a lower PC penetration rate, according to Mr. Xu. Malaysia, for instance, has been listed as one of the four fastest-growing PC markets in the world, on a par with Russia, India, and Turkey.

Lenovo Group is poised to broaden its presence in Malaysia by increasing its concept outlet number to six and boosting multi-brand stores to 40-plus by 2010. Currently, it has had 14 retail outlets in the country, four of which are concept stores and the remainder 10 multi-brand stores. In Singapore, the company has opened more than 80 retail outlets.

Lenovo Group will try to intensify its distribution network and beef up product innovation in a bid to court for small- and medium-sized corporate users and the individual buyers, said Howie Lau, general manager for the Lenovo ASEAN operation. Spending on PCs from SMEs and individuals is expected to contribute 60%-70% to the total in the ASEAN market in the future, predicted Mr. Xu.

A focus on SMEs and individuals does not mean that Lenovo Group will leave the lucrative big-sized corporate users to its rivals - the company will scramble for big clients such as universities and entertainment centers to enlarge its foothold in the ASEAN market.

Earlier in May, the PC maker announced that it had snatched a contract to provide more than 3,000 Think-series laptops and desktops for the international-acclaimed Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) in Singapore.

(USD 1 = CNY 6.83)

Source: dycj.ynet.com (September 17, 2009)

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