From the beginning of April, Lenovo will realign its business strategy and focus on growing its market share.

This is according to David Drummond, who was addressing a media roundtable this morning in his new position as senior manager for Lenovo in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

He said Lenovo will no longer take a three-pronged business approach with separate units for corporate, SME and consumer, but will instead adopt a geo-structural approach. He says the company will focus on four major areas, namely North and South America, EMEA, and the East, with China as an area on its own.

Drummond also emphasised that the EMEA region is important to Lenovo, and the company has invested a lot in the region.

Local presence

According to Drummond, Lenovo hopes to gain market share in SA by raising local awareness about the company`s consumer brand.

He explained that while Lenovo has had a strong presence in the corporate market in SA, it hopes to drive growth in the country`s consumer market. According to Drummond, this will be done by deepening its existing partnerships, while also broadening its presence. He said consumers can expect to see Lenovo in more outlets, but would not give further details.

In terms of the rest of Africa, Drummond said Lenovo has a strong presence in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. He added that the company expects 6% growth in SA and 11% growth in Africa this year, attributing the difference to the lower base from which the company would expand into the rest of Africa.

Top spot aspirations

According to Drummond, Lenovo hopes to become the number one PC vendor in the world. He explained that one of the key drivers in the market is operational efficiency. Moreover, he says, PC vendors are currently selling similar products at similar prices and companies can only differentiate themselves through service, product placement and promotions.

For this reason, Drummond said washing out fixed costs is a prerequisite. However, he explained that unless manufacturers are making in excess of 30 000 computers, they cannot match prices of larger vendors. What`s more, he says, this bar keeps rising.

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