Legend Group Ltd (
The company said its English brand will take on a new name, Lenovo, replacing the two-decade-old Legend name, which is already patented outside of China by many companies. The new name is the first step in Legend's target to sell computers and cell phones in North America, Europe and other Asian countries.
Legend will keep its namesake Chinese brand in China, where it has 30 percent of the computer market and the company makes about 95 percent of sales. Legend wants to increase overseas sales to a fifth of annual revenue by 2007, chief financial officer Mary Ma said.
In the first quarter, Legend kept its No. 1 position in Asia outside Japan with an 11 percent share, according to research firm International Data Corp.
"China's PC market is still growing very fast," said Theodore Teo, an analyst at Nomura International (H.K.) Ltd.
"I doubt if you can find the same degree of growth anywhere else. I'm not concerned what Legend is doing outside China unless they're putting in a lot of resources overseas," Teo said.
In China, the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) may hurt business, chairman Liu Chuanzhi (柳傳志) said, without elaborating.
The company, which also makes cellphones, will slow promotion of its products in a shortened Labor Day holiday next month because people are shunning shopping malls to avoid contracting the virus.
China has the world's highest number of SARS infections.
Legend shares dropped 14 percent last week after International Data said the virus may hurt computer shipments in Asia.
"The share price doesn't reflect the real situation in Legend now," Liu said. "I believe investors will understand that the management is making every effort to minimize the impact from SARS."
RSS