Lenovo to Reorganize Into Four Business Groups
New Structure to Consist of PC, Mobile, Enterprise, and 'Ecosystem and Cloud'
Lenovo Group Ltd. 0992.HK +5.86% said Tuesday that it will shuffle its organizational structure to create four business groups instead of the current two, as the Chinese personal-computer maker tries to diversify into areas such as smartphones and servers.
The changes, effective April 1, come several days after Lenovo unveiled its plans to buy International Business Machines Corp.'s IBM -0.10% low-end server business for $2.3 billion.
In the new structure, Lenovo will have four business groups: PC, mobile, enterprise, and a so-called ecosystem and cloud group that focuses on content and services for the company's user base.
The enterprise business group will be led by Gerry Smith, who runs Lenovo's North America and Latin America operations. Lenovo said it would integrate IBM's low-end server business into the new enterprise group, pending regulatory approvals for the deal.
A spokesman for Lenovo said the reorganization wasn't triggered by the recent server-business deal with IBM but is part of a broader strategy to move beyond the Chinese company's traditional business model, which focused almost entirely on PCs.
Lenovo, which bought IBM's PC business in 2005, became the world's largest PC maker by units sold last year, overtaking Hewlett-Packard Co. Still, the company is trying to find new sources of growth as demand is weak in the traditional PC market. Lenovo has identified smartphones and enterprise products such as servers as its next engines for growth.
Lenovo said the PC business group will be led by Gianfranco Lanci, the current chief of European operations. Liu Jun, who heads Lenovo's consumer-product business, will oversee the new mobile business group, consisting mainly of smartphones and tablet computers.
The company also said Peter Hortensius, who is in charge of Lenovo's office-PC business, will become chief technology officer.
Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing, meanwhile, will stay in his current role to lead the overall company