Lanci fancies Lenovo chances

Former Acer kingpin rocks up at rival to help drive integration of Medion and boost consumer presence

Former Acer boss Gianfranco Lanci has joined rival Lenovo to help drive the integration of recent acquisition Medion and expand the vendor's consumer footprint in western Europe.

Lanci, who will be based in his native Italy, has joined the Chinese manufacturer as a consultant, reporting to chief executive Yuanqing Yang. He left Acer in March, resigning after locking horns with other board members over company strategy.

Lenovo snapped up German electronics vendor Medion earlier this summer for €465m (£409m) in a bid to strengthen its credentials as a consumer player. The former Acer man has been charged with helping to integrate the Essen-based firm. He is also expected to "enhance [Lenovo's] consumer presence, channels and capabilities in western Europe", according to a company statement.

Chief executive Yang added: "Lenovo is fully committed to the PC industry. We are very optimistic about its future, while making significant long-term investments in the mobile internet. Because of this, exceptional people like Gianfranco are joining Lenovo.

"As a consultant to us, Gianfranco brings years of expertise and insights to Lenovo that will help us strengthen our growing global consumer business. Talented people are joining Lenovo because of our commitment to the PC industry, outstanding momentum and optimism about the future. We will continue to strengthen our company by building the best global team in the industry."