Lenovo to make Euro channel billionaires

Vendor promises riches for resellers as it chases PC market top spot

Lenovo is planning to create $1bn-worth of business for its EMEA channel to help it achieve its goal of becoming the number one PC vendor by its financial year end in March 2013.

The Chinese vendor has big plans for the consumer market, with a range of products set to launch in the space, plus ambitious plans for the SMB arena; and is planning to take on new partners as well as stay close to its existing partners.

Speaking at a press briefing at the vendor's EMEA channel conference in Berlin, Gianfranco Lanci, EMEA president and senior vice president at Lenovo, said: "If we look at the overall PC industry, most of our competitors are struggling in terms of performance. But for the past two years we have been the fastest-growing company in the PC market.

"We are to become a leader in the PC industry. Lenovo is a company run globally with a team of people from different countries and cultures.

"And this build-up of a profitable and sustainable business model has been because of how we work with partners and the channel."

Vincent Fauquenot, vice president of products and channels EMEA at Lenovo, explained how the vendor – whose 2011-2012 revenue hit $30bn (£19.3bn) – has already achieved the number-two global PC vendor position and 10 straight quarters of growth, snaffling 13 per cent global market share.

He added: "In terms of go-to-market, we strongly believe that the channel is the number one strategy and primary route to market for Lenovo. We believe we are going to reach our next milestones through our partners and want that number one position in the world. We are going to keep investing in our channel partners to increase our market share.

"Our ambitions are pretty high. For the coming year we will create more than $1bn of business for our EMEA partners. We want to grow the business significantly. We are committed to the channel and we are going to keep investing in the Lenovo brand."