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Lenovo hires Dell executive as president

Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), the Chinese computer company, said on Tuesday that it had recruited a senior vice president from a rival, Dell Inc, as its new chief executive and president.

The management move comes seven months after the Chinese company completed its purchase of IBM's personal computer business. Analysts say the arrival of the executive, William Amelio, suggests that Lenovo wants to move swiftly to generate growth to try to match Dell's prowess in global operating efficiency.

"Clearly, Dell is targeted by this move," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, a research firm in San Jose, California.

Amelio succeeds Stephen Ward Jr, who led the management team that came from IBM. The Lenovo purchase of IBM's PC business, a US$1.75 billion deal announced a year ago, has been widely seen as a sign of China's economic rise and the global ambitions of its corporations. But while IBM played a crucial role in creating the PC industry when it entered the market in 1981, the company rarely made money selling personal computers.

So there was a question about whether an IBM executive like Ward was the right person to lead Lenovo. Ward will remain a consultant to Lenovo.

Under Ward, Lenovo assembled an international management team from a variety of companies.

It attracted a US$350 million investment from three private equity firms. And the market share of Lenovo, the world's third-largest PC maker, after Dell and Hewlett-Packard Co, has increased slightly since the merger.

Lenovo chairman Yang Yuanqing (楊元慶) praised Ward's skills in speeding the smooth integration of the two companies and he emphasized that Lenovo's strategy would not change. But the next step for the company, he said, would be to focus on growth and improved efficiency.

"Bill Amelio's skills and experience are the best fit for the next phase of our business," Yang said.

Amelio, 48, has been the head of Dell's business in the Asia-Pacific region since 2001. Before that, he held senior executive positions at NCR, Honeywell and Allied Signal. Amelio, who earned an MBA at Stanford, also has an IBM heritage, having worked at the company from 1979 to 1997. His last 18 months at IBM were spent as the general manager of worldwide operations for its PC business.

In an interview, Amelio called his new job "a great honor and an opportunity," and said he would focus on building the Lenovo brand, customer service, and increasing the efficiency of the company's procurement and operations.
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