It just works
As out interview came to an end, we asked O'Sullivan how we can expect to see Lenovo evolve. "I think our design, while it might not be considered exciting, is iconic," she said. "And every time we're considering big changes, like changing the colour from black, the market research tell us it's got to be black.
"I do want to emphasis that we have two brands within Lenovo: Think is the commercial, enterprise brand and Idea is geared towards consumers. Now, we do have some end-users that buy our Think products, maybe CEO wannabes or people who've just got their MBAs, so there is a professional prestige associated with the Think brand."
And on the product side? "Our netbooks have been doing very well," said O'Sullivan. "We see that as an exciting space, especially for people having their second or third PC. Ours have been among the top sellers in Japan for several weeks.
"I think you'll see good progress in interesting new touch applications, see thinness in lower price points. In desktops, I think all-in-one is a very interesting space; it's amazing what power you're getting into little desktops these days. We already have Lenovo mobile phones in China, and we're watching very closely how they're doing there and we'll see whether we expand that.
"Unlike, perhaps, other PC ODMs out there, we do invest in our own R&D, we don't just purchase the latest from the Taiwan guys. We pride ourselves on understanding our customers, what their environment is, how we can deliver the best tools for them. And as I said, we want them to love their ThinkPad - it just works."
