Lenovo to Open Subsidiary in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Shirley Christie | November 30, 2010    

Jakarta. Chinese computer giant Lenovo, which purchased IBM’s personal computer division in 2005, plans to establish an Indonesian subsidiary by April, a company representative has said.

In this file photo, a Lenovo laptop computer is displayed.
 Lenovo plans to establish an Indonesian subsidiary
by April. (Antara Photo/Audy Alwi)      

Sandy Lumy, the company’s chief representative for Indonesia, told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday that the country had better growth potential than other nations in Southeast Asia.

According to International Data Corporation figures for 2009, only 38 out of 1,000 Indonesians own a personal computer.

The company declined to share its sales targets or projected investment in the country, only saying that it planned to open the subsidiary office by April.

Currently, Lenovo exports its products from China to Singapore before passing them on to the local market in Indonesia.

Lenovo plans to start delivering products directly to Indonesia in May, after its subsidiary is established. Sandy said there were no plans to open a local factory.

Lenovo, which began life as a project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1984, recently celebrated the 18th anniversary of the ThinkPad portable computer, a former IBM trademark, which has sold more than 60 million units worldwide.

“That is approximately 16 units per second,” Sandy said.

Since acquiring the IBM stable in 2005, Lenovo has sought to polish its image as a global — not just Chinese — company.

The company claims to be No. 2 in the Indonesian market with a 20 percent market share, behind Hewlett-Packard.

It is the No. 1 computer brand in China.