14 DAY TRIAL // Lenovo group divested Lenovo Mobile Communication Technology Ltd. back in 2008, when the Group chose to refocus on the Personal Computer business segment. Now, however, after mobile computing solutions saw a massive popularity surge (including everything from notebooks and netbooks to smartphones and tablet PCs), Lenovo group decided to buy the entire interest of the mobile handset business from the investors led by Legend Holdings private equity arm Hony Capital.
By combining personal computing and mobile handset technologies, companies like Dell, HP and Asustek have been able, over the past few years, to come up with new devices, applications and Internet services. As a prominent organization in the global IT industry, Lenovo Group will add Lenovo Mobile's resources and expertise to its own, gaining the ability to meet China's growing need for connectivity to Internet, anytime, anywhere, through Internet-capable handheld devices, which the company plans to commercialize via its strong distribution channels.
Under the active contributions of the government and telecom carriers, the demand for mobile Internet devices in China has created a large market for mobile Internet solutions. Lenovo plans to take advantage of this rapid growth phase that the country is experiencing and become one, if not the, preeminent supplier of mobile Internet technology. Obviously, Lenovo must be intrigued by the predictions of analysts that imply that the China mobile Internet market will, by 2014, exceed US$16 billion.
“As Lenovo’s global PC business continues to make steady progress, we view mobile Internet as a key growth opportunity moving forward globally. Lenovo has prepared itself in this area.” Yang Yuanqing, CEO of Lenovo Group, said. “We have developed first class products with excellent hardware and operating systems integration. We will launch these innovative new products in China soon. With Lenovo’s brand, strong channel and excellent operation platform, we’re confident in our ability to execute our mobile Internet strategy and make it our next growth engine after the China business.”
The company will likely keep a steady track of the evolution of 3G broadband and accompanying multimedia Internet services, since these two elements are, according to analysts, the main driving force behind the rapid evolution of the Chinese mobile Internet market. Currently, Lenovo Mobile is ranked No.3 in China’s mobile handset market and is the No.1 domestic brand.