PC maker Lenovo is betting the new products it plans to show off at next week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will help it maintain its impressive sales momentum.
A year ago the Chinese company, which has a headquarters in Morrisville that is home to 1,800 workers, ranked fourth among the world's PC makers. Today it ranks second and has set its sights on vaulting past HP to become No. 1.
Sales that have far outpaced the industry have spurred the ascent of Lenovo, which entered the U.S. market when it acquired IBM's PC business in 2005.
In the third quarter of last year - the latest quarter for which data is available - Lenovo's worldwide PC shipments jumped 36.1 percent even though industrywide shipments rose just 3.6 percent, according to market research firm IDC.
In the U.S. market, where Lenovo ranks fifth, the story is similar: Its PC shipments rose 22 percent in the third quarter, even though industrywide shipments were essentially flat, according to IDC.
"We have been the fastest-growing major PC maker for eight consecutive quarters, and we have outperformed the market for 10 quarters in a row," Dilip Bhatia, vice president of the Think product group, said during a recent webcast for reporters. "We are seeing a balanced growth spanning multiple geographies and products."
In recent years, Lenovo has broadened its appeal in the U.S. market beyond the corporate arena by offering a wide range of consumer products.
A solid product lineup, combined with missteps by rival Acer and Dell's relatively weak distribution in stores, have led to its success, said technology analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.
Enderle, which has been briefed on the products that Lenovo plans to unveil at CES next week, characterizes them as "undoubtedly the strongest line they have brought to market so far."
Today Lenovo is taking the wraps off the business products it plans to showcase next week; Sunday it will disclose its consumer lineup and plans additional announcements at CES.
Lenovo is pursuing a "four-screen strategy" - PCs, tablets, smartphones and TVs - and is widely expected to unveil its first "smart TV" at CES. However, the TV's debut is likely to be restricted to the China market, just as the company's LePhone Smartphone was launched only in China in 2010. The LePhone still isn't sold in the United States.
At CES, Lenovo won't be officially launching its upcoming cloud service - designed to enable users to have similar experiences for, say, video on demand no matter what type of Lenovo device they have. But the company will be demonstrating its cloud offerings in Las Vegas, said Nick Reynolds, a Lenovo marketing executive.
"We do have very bold ambitions," Reynolds said.
