Lenovo laments Q2 mistakes

PC vendor promises to do a better job after conceding it failed to be competitive with its channel incentives in Q2

Lenovo said it wants to give partners targets they can smash

Lenovo has apologised to its channel for not being on the ball with its second-quarter targets, but revealed it is aggressively going after market share.

Speaking at Ingram Micro’s showcase event yesterday, David McQuarrie, vice president of SMB and consumer business for Western Europe at Lenovo, said: “In Q2, we don’t think we did a good job of being competitive with our channel incentives. We want to be the best partner for you [resellers] in terms of rebates and selling products.

"We want to give partners targets they can smash."

McQuarrie admitted the vendor "had not been easy to deal with" for partners due to its back office.

“But we are working hard to progress,” he said. “I know we have a long way to go and we are plugging away at it.”

He added that the vendor was intent on growing its nine per cent marketshare.

To back up the claims, the Chinese vendor today unveiled a new channel acquisition programme to grow its partner base and expand its sales coverage in Western Europe, aiming to recruit more than 8,000 partners across the region.

Lenovo’s scheme will include dedicated funds to attract new partners, two promotions, a 50 per cent rebate on the first unit bought, and a 100 per cent rebate on the fifth unit bought in a quarter.

Vincent Fauquenot, vice president of the channel partner organisation at Lenovo Western Europe, said: “We have a solid channel network across EMEA with 45,000 registered partners that serve Lenovo products and solutions to two million customers, and we want to keep increasing our reach. For that reason we are constantly investing to attract new partners and provide our existing channel more benefits that position Lenovo as the vendor of choice for the channel. “

“The ambitious acquisition programme we are launching today in Western Europe and our unified channel strategy clearly demonstrates that we are committed to working through and with the channel to jointly address the vast majority of the market,” he said.