Lenovo to replace its CEO with Ex-DELL executive

Stephen Ward, the IBM PC executive, who became the CEO of Lenovo last year after the much-publicized merger of the two companies, has stepped down to make way for William Amelio, who was a senior executive at DELL before he joined Lenovo. Amelio’s appointment comes after the company reported poorer-than-expected July-September results. The change will be implemented with immediate effect.

Lenovo chairman, Yang Yuanqing, said, "With our integration of IBM’s PC division on track and our organizational integration complete, we are accelerating our planning for our next phase of growth." He added that Amelio had the desired background to, "lead Lenovo from the important stability we have achieved in the first phase of our integration, to the profitable growth and efficiency improvement to which we are committed in our next phase. Our board and Steve Ward made the decision together, that this is the right time for the next transition." Apparently voicing similar beliefs, the outgoing CEO, Stephen Ward said that Mr. Amelio’s experience made him better suited to overseeing the next phase of Lenovo’s growth, which would rely more on global operations. "He is stronger in supply chain than I am – my strengths are in strategy and in building this thing." It may be recalled that, in Mr. Amelio’s time with Dell, the company’s sales in the Asia Pacific region had doubled. The customer satisfaction had also dramatically improved. Stephen Ward is expected to stay at Lenovo as a senior consultant. Lenovo’s chairman Yang Yuanqing speaking very highly of him, praised him for "successfully integrating two independent businesses into an international PC company and creating notable value for the shareholders." It may be recalled that Lenovo, known to be one of the first Chinese companies with global ambitions, had taken over IBM (International Business Machines Corp.) in what was the largest foreign takeover by a Chinese company.

The acquisition was completed about eight months ago. According to analysts, Amelio’s experience at Dell and IBM will be a valuable asset in the transformation of the company into a global PC player.

The shares of Lenovo Group, which have gained as much as 60% this year, were suspended from trading Wednesday, due to a pending disclosure on management changes, the Hong Kong stock exchange said. However, according to the reliable sources, this suspension may end as soon as tomorrow as the formalities have been completed.