Lenovo commits to tablets, aims to fight Apple with LePad

Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of the Chinese laptop giant Lenovo, has committed his company to the tablet PC sector and is aiming to see LePad battle it out with the hugely popular iPad from Apple.

Speaking in stark terms at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Mr Liu suggested that any manufacturer that loses out in the tablet arena will ultimately be written off as a major player in the consumer tech industry as a whole.

Lenovo is one of the biggest sellers of PCs on a global scale, primarily based on sales in its native China but it is targeting considerable expansion this year and is clearly placing plenty of emphasis on the prospects of its would-be iPad and iPhone rivals.

“We have an extreme focus on the innovation of LePad and LePhone because these products will dominate the future market,” Lenovo’s chairman is quoted as saying. “Anyone who loses this battle will be phased out from the history of this industry.”

Lenovo’s ThinkPad range of laptops have been popular worldwide and its LePad offering is expected to start selling in China before the end of the current quarter. Liu is convinced that his firm can out-compete Apple in its domestic market, despite the US company’s aim of making major inroads in China and chief operating officer Tim Cook describing the Asian country as a “top priority”.

As well as all this, Lenovo has also been in the news this week in light of its recent agreement to set-up a joint venture with the Japanese technology company NEC. A new business called Lenovo NEC will be aiming to become one of the main suppliers of laptops and desktops to the Japanese market.

View the original article here