September 15, 2006

I have to confess that my respect for Lenovo is growing. When they first purchased the personal computer division of IBM (announced in December 2004 and completed in May 2005), I didn't give Lenovo much of a chance of making it work. They still have plenty of problems to solve --IBM's PC division made great laptops, but no profit; the PC hardware business is still cutthroat and low margin-- but I've revised my original bleak assessment. Under the circumstances, Lenovo is doing well.

What are the signs? Well, for one thing, Lenovo is the only truly international Chinese consumer brand that I can think of. There are other Chinese firms that operate overseas, but none has created the kind of broad brand awareness that Lenovo has or is building an international presence in the way that Lenovo is. Huawei and CNOOC might be known in their industries, but mention their name outside of China and away from the network equipment or oil industries and see who
blinks.

--more at CNET Asia--