2 min read October 2022 — Lenovo is a global technology company providing “smarter technology for all” by offering the world’s widest portfolio of technology products using innovative services and solutions. Invest: spoke with North America President Vlad Rozanovich about new innovative developments and products within the company, partnership developments, supply chain challenges and Lenovo’s outlook.
What are some highlights for Lenovo over the past 12 months and what are the priorities moving forward?
There is a large appetite for technology, IT, mobility devices and data centers, plus all the services that go with it. It was a banner year for technology and Lenovo was at the forefront. We hit $70 billion in global sales for the first time in our history, $16 billion of which came from the North America region. The company was about half that size five years ago. This past fiscal year, the Americas accounted for 32% of the company’s overall sales on a global basis. The Raleigh-Durham area is the second of two global headquarters for Lenovo. The character of our employees here in the Triangle area is responsible for our success in the North American region. We have individuals who define, innovate and determine the product roadmap for many of our products. The past year has been tremendous for Lenovo in North America and going forward, we expect to make the right decisions and investments to keep that growth going.
What key challenges will Lenovo look to overcome?
We keep our finger on the pulse on the global market because things change all the time. The current inflationary pressures and consumer confidence are concerns we are prepared for and understand. Most of that has to do with making sure we’re providing the right products and services based on market demands at that point in time. Commercial buying is still very strong and we’re starting to see an increase in demand for data centers. We are a broad product supplier but the areas in which we still see tremendous opportunity for over the next year include data centers, analytic devices and business intelligence.
Are there any particular products or developments that Lenovo is excited about?
We expect to invest over $2 billion back into the business this year in the form of R&D. We know we must be on the forefront of what consumers, corporations and businesses are expecting from their technology devices. At this year’s International CES, the consumer electronics show, we debuted some of the innovations that we’re taking into the marketplace. We are developing products that serve as a productivity tool for creators or artists. We know that by developing new, innovative products we’ll be able to recruit and engage the smartest minds in the industry to come work for us.
We are taking new materials, including recycled aluminum and vegan leather and putting them into packages like our new ThinkPad Z Series laptops. This is the first time Lenovo introduced a new laptop series on the commercial side in over 10 years, aligned with the new buying habits of Millennial IT buyers. They’re concerned about things like recycled materials, multi-speaker audio and multiple microphones for more immersive experiences for video conferencing calls, all of which we rolled out earlier this year. We won multiple awards for our ThinkBook multi display products and ThinkPad Z Series, and these products are now starting to hit the market.
What makes Raleigh so unique as a market?
The university ecosystem here is second to none, and there’s a strong technology base. The cost of living is great. It’s prime location to the mountains and beaches. Home prices are reasonable. It’s still an affordable place to live and work. There’s a massive amount of innovative, high-tech companies in addition to Lenovo. That combination is one of the reasons why we continue to invest in the area.
Is Lenovo interested in developing any partnerships or expanding relationships with any particular business sectors or industries?
In the technology industry, there’s cooperation and competition among certain companies but that’s what makes technology a wonderful industry to be in. For our Motorola mobility devices, we ensure we’re partnering up with Google on Android to deliver the best engagement out there. It’s also important to partner up with companies like Qualcomm, which are introducing chipsets for that marketplace. On the PC and server side, some of our key partners are with Intel, AMD and NVIDIA. There’s a whole ecosystem between the suppliers like Microsoft that obviously drive a big portion of the software segment of the IT market.
Has Lenovo faced any supply chain difficulties and what strategies does the company have to mitigate those challenges?
We have a great deal of influence when it comes to procurement and how we make investments. We carry substantial inventory levels to ensure we’re prepared. The chip shortage affected everybody over the last 18 months but during that time Lenovo never lost our number one position. We’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re almost there. We sell to 180 markets around the world and have manufacturing sites in over 11 countries. We can build our devices whether it be in Asia, North Carolina, Mexico or Hungary. That flexibility kept us ahead of the curve and in a position where we can route products from one geography to another.
What new trends or developments are people maybe not aware of but should be paying more attention to?
People need to understand how to make decisions faster based on your data. There’s a massive amount of data being produced today. Many of our customers from CIOs and CTOs from various organizations are all trying to figure out how to take that data and use it in their decision-making process. One of our large customers is trying to figure out how to make decisions about removing bottlenecks at the drive-through. There’s going to be a new focus on how to steer customers to what they want faster. One of the areas the industry is gearing up for is data analytics. We’re making the right investment around that to ensure we’re ready to compete.
What is Lenovo’s outlook for the next two to three years?
No. 1 is ensuring we’re recruiting and investing in the right people. Having the right workforce drives the culture of innovation faster. Lenovo invests in internships and rotational programs for new college hires. We train them on our products, culture and methodologies but we also make sure they’re contributing back to the company.
Lenovo wants to give back to the community. We’re heavily engaged here in the Triangle, whether it’s through STEM education, support of the Carolina Hurricanes or through our Evolve Small program. This program focuses on helping small businesses, particularly minority and women-owned, as they continue to recover from the pandemic. Investing back into the community creates the culture that we want to foster. Understanding the market dynamics and trends by talking with our customers, partners and suppliers in our ecosystem has its advantages. It’s about figuring out how to offer services and solutions to those customers or consumers that enhance their experience with technology.
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