Lenovo sets up new mobile internet business group

The new group aimed to focus on tablets, smartphones and smart TVs as the company sees potential of mobile internet.

Lenovo on Tuesday announced it is establishing a new business group, the Mobile Internet and Digital Home Business Group (MIDH), responsible for creating mobile Internet-focused devices, including tablets and smartphones, as well as devices for new categories like cloud computing, smart TV and the digital home. The group will be responsible for developing services and applications that will fuel these next generation “convergence” devices.

Liu Jun, formerly senior vice president and president of Lenovo’s Product Group, will lead the new group as president. He is based at the company’s China headquarters in Beijing. The company has promoted Peter Hortensius, formerly head of its Think Products Group, to president of its Product Group. He is based at Lenovo’s U.S. headquarters in Raleigh, NC.

“Lenovo recognizes the tremendous growth potential of the mobile internet, as well as that of new categories like cloud computing and smart TV, and so we are putting the focus and investments in place to fully capitalize on these opportunities to drive growth in our business today and for many years to come,” said Yang Yuanqing, chief executive officer, Lenovo. “The Mobile Internet and Digital Home Business Group will help us leverage our leadership in the PC arena to create a rich portfolio of Internet-centric devices. At the same time, we’ll use our creativity, innovation and technical prowess to help our customers navigate the future of personal technology worldwide.”

Mobile Internet Products Gain Momentum
Lenovo is already delivering products tailored to the mobile Internet space. Lenovo launched the IdeaPad U1 hybrid (a combination of a slate and laptop) and the LePad slate at the recent International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. In 2010, the company entered the smartphone market in China with the launch of the Lenovo smartphone to become one of China’s leading mobile phone players, accelerating Lenovo’s growth in the mobile device category. Lenovo also showcased smart TV and digital home technologies at CES and has plans to develop and deliver new products in these areas.

New Group Gains Senior Leader
Liu Jun brings extensive experience from the PC industry to the MIDH. As the former head of Lenovo’s Product Group, he helped accelerate rapid growth in Lenovo’s consumer and commercial businesses, helping the company to achieve its recent business momentum and record high worldwide market share of 10.4 percent. In 2008, he managed Lenovo’s entrance into the consumer market worldwide with the launch of the Idea brand. Now Idea-branded products are available in more than 90 countries, and Idea is the fastest growing consumer PC brand among the top six PC vendors1. Additionally, Lenovo’s IdeaCentre desktop business is ranked third worldwide1 with all-in-one consumer desktops more than doubling sales year-over-year. Under Liu’s leadership, the company achieved growth and profitability for Lenovo’s Think-branded commercial products by introducing products like the ThinkPad Edge line of laptops to gain new customers in small-to-medium business while protecting its large commercial business with innovative products like the ThinkPad T410s, heralded as the fastest laptop of 2010 by LAPTOP magazine.