PURCHASE, NY, December 20, 2005 – Lenovo Group Limited today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed William J. Amelio as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Amelio most recently was Senior Vice President of Dell Inc. and President, Asia-Pacific and Japan, before which he served in senior executive and operating positions at NCR Corp., Honeywell International Inc., AlliedSignal Inc. and IBM, including General Manager of Worldwide Operations for IBM’s Personal Computing Division. He is succeeding Stephen M. Ward, Jr., who has agreed to assist in the transition and serve as a consultant to the Company.
Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo’s Chairman, 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. Steve and Lenovo’s board agreed that now is the right time for this transition. Bill Amelio’s combined experience – in our industry, in emerging and mature markets, in senior operational roles and with IBM — gives him the perfect profile 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.”
Mr. Amelio said, “I am very excited to lead this ground breaking global enterprise. Lenovo provides me a unique chance to draw on the skills I have developed in every component of my career. Lenovo has a solid foundation in place and enormous opportunities, and I look forward to working with Yuanqing and the entire team to continue the drive to enhance profitable growth.” Robert Moffat Jr., IBM’s Senior Vice President for Integrated Operations, said, “A year after we announced this historic transaction and partnership between IBM and Lenovo, we are pleased with Lenovo’s progress and prospects for the future – as a partner, customer and shareholder. IBM remains fully committed to Lenovo and our mutual customers.”
Mr. Amelio will join Lenovo effective immediately. He served in his most recent position, with responsibility for strategy and operations across the region, since 2001. During his tenure, sales more than doubled in the region and service levels improved significantly, as measured by third-party customer satisfaction metrics.
From 2000 until 2001 Mr. Amelio was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of NCR’s Retail and Financial Group, one of its two businesses. From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Amelio was with Honeywell and its predecessor, Allied Signal, where he was President and CEO of Honeywell’s transportation and power-systems divisions, and head of the turbocharging-systems business at Allied Signal. Under Mr. Amelio, the turbocharging-systems business doubled in revenues to more than $1 billion, implemented Six Sigma and SAP, and successfully integrated acquisitions. From 1979 to 1997, Mr. Amelio was with IBM, where he held a wide range of senior management positions, including General Manager of Worldwide Operations for IBM’s Personal Computing Division. Mr. Amelio has a master’s degree in management from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Lehigh University.
Mr. Yang continued, “Steve Ward successfully helped to create a single, global PC company from two distinct organizations. As a result, we have created significant value for our shareholders over the past year, and Lenovo is in a strong position to make continually better progress against our goals. We appreciate Steve’s contributions to Lenovo and his continuing support.”
Mr. Ward said, “Yuanqing and I have spent a lot of time thinking about this. Bringing in Bill Amelio is a great move. Lenovo is an incredible company and I have great confidence in its future success.”
As Lenovo outlined during its earnings announcement last month for the second quarter of its fiscal year ending March 31, 2006, the Company’s accomplishments since the acquisition of IBM’s Personal Computing Division closed in May 2005 include:
About Lenovo Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is the world’s most innovative personal computing company, with a business model built on innovation, operational excellence, customer satisfaction and a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure, and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information about Lenovo, visit www.lenovo.com .
Contacts: US office:Carol Makovich 914-701-2811/ makovich@us.lenovo.comJulie Gottlieb 914-701-2876/ jgottlie@us.lenovo.com
Beijing office: Jean Cai 8610-58868912/caixqb@lenovo.com
Hong Kong office: Angela Lee 852-25164810/angelalee@lenovo.com
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