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Comment (Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo said on January 23, 2007 that the president and chief executive officer of its operations in North and South Americas has stepped down. Scott Smith is leaving Lenovo to pursue other opportunities or greener pastures.
Smith, a former longtime senior leader at IBM, joined Lenovo in late 2005 after the company purchased IBM's personal computing business for $1.75 billion in May that year. Lenovo, a Chinese computer manufacturer previously known as Legend for 19 years before May 2003, is the world's third-largest PC manufacturer behind Hewlett-Packard and Dell.
Rory Read, senior vice president of operations for Lenovo, will succeed Smith on an interim basis until a permanent successor can be identified. William Amelio, a former IBM and Dell executive, has brought in numerous senior managers since he took over as Lenovo's chief executive officer in late 2005.
Smith was Lenovo's president for the Americas and a senior vice president. He was one of the top executives remaining with Lenovo after the $1.75 billion acquisition from IBM. Before that, Smith was vice president and general manager for IBM's Americas personal computers group. He worked at IBM for 22 years. Where Smith is heading, after quitting Lenovo, remains to be seen.
Computer Reseller News and EE Times linked Smith's departure with Lenovo's most recent quarterly earnings report. While Lenovo continues to expand its customer base in China and parts of Asia, it has struggled in the Americas and elsewhere. Lenovo increased its global market share to 7.0 percent in 2006, up from 6.9 percent in 2005, according to statistics from research firm Gartner. Production did increase nearly 11 percent to more than 16.6 million units. Dell and HP shipped more than 38 million units.
Most of IBM's personal computing operations were located in Raleigh and around the Triangle. Lenovo moved its U.S. headquarters from Purchase, N.Y., to Research Triangle Park last year. The company, which employs 1,500 Triangle workers, soon will be moving to an $84 million campus under construction in Morrisville. The first of three buildings at the campus was finished earlier this month, with the second due to be delivered next month.
