Can Lenovo Regain Glory with New Strategy?

The history of Lenovo dates back to 1984 when it was started as New Technology Developer Inc., the predecessor of the Legend Group Ltd. (Legend), by Founder and Chairman, Liu Chuanzhi (Liu), along with ten colleagues at the government-owned Computing Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) with US$ 25,000. The company was started with the aim of commercializing the research and development (R&D) activities conducted at CAS. In 1985, as its first business deal, the company took over the responsibility of receiving, checking, and maintaining IBM computers imported by CAS and of training CAS staff.

The company invested the profits of US$ 146,583 it had received from servicing IBM computers in the design, production, and marketing of its first product – the Chinese character card – HanCard. The Chinese character card, which translated English operating software into Chinese characteristics, was based on the original concept developed by the Institute of Computer Technology (ICT) of CAS. At that time, foreign vendors were not able to come out with such an operating system for PCs in China. The successful launch of the Chinese card boosted Lenovo’s growth in the early 1990s.