Is Lenovo’s change what Yang Yuanqing wanted?

In just one week, Fan Bingbing's "Jun Ge" has become "Dong Ge". Such a rapid change has been fermented again and again. This personnel change is too much of a news story, and the plot has gone a bit off the track.

In fact, whether it is "Where did Liu Jun go" or "Xudong is back", they all reflect the word "change". What I want to know more is, is the change of Lenovo Mobile the change that Yang Yuanqing wanted?

Change is not Lenovo’s gene, so why do we need to CHANGE?

Lenovo is an "old" company. For Chinese technology companies, Lenovo, which was founded in 1988, is definitely a century-old company in China's IT circle, not to mention young Internet companies. The reason why Lenovo has become a century-old company in the IT industry is that Lenovo has been changing, such as defeating Dell and going global. Otherwise, Lenovo would not have existed for 30 years. Today, does Lenovo need to change again?

Yang Yuanqing proposed CHANGE at Lenovo's internal communication meeting on June 3, but change is not in Lenovo's genes. Why does Lenovo need CHANGE?

Lenovo's development strategy over the years has always been to be steady. Lenovo's efforts in the PC business over the years are obvious to all, from learning from HP in the early days, to the reorganization after the acquisition of IBM's PC business, to the globalization of the PC business, and achieving the first place in the global market. These achievements prove that Lenovo is a world-leading company in the PC field, but this route is vertical. Based on the experience of the PC business, can it adapt to today's Internet era? Can it solve the problems of Lenovo's mobile business?

Comparing the PC business and the smartphone business, there are indeed some similarities. For example, the operating system and core chips are still controlled by American companies. The traditional offline retail channels are also relatively similar. Early users also had PC-like purchase behaviors, such as comparing hardware specifications such as screen size and boot speed.

However, with the advent of the smart phone and the Internet era, first of all, users no longer rely solely on hardware for experience. The model of solving the compatibility of software and hardware and achieving large-scale benefits in the PC era cannot solve the problem of shaping the stickiness of mobile phones to users. Secondly, users' purchases no longer rely on offline channels, and online sales are no longer simply channel sales. E-commerce and social media will have a great impact on user purchases. The era when users compared hardware configurations to decide on purchases was a thing of the past in the PC era. Users are more inclined to decide on purchases based on purchase records on e-commerce platforms or reviews on social media. In the PC era, the sales model through marketing and channel construction is gradually weakening its impact on mobile phone sales.

It can be seen that the way to play the mobile phone market is fundamentally different from the way to play the PC market. Currently, none of the mobile phone companies that have quickly achieved success in the market are mobile phone companies with "excellent traditions". Whether it is Huawei or Xiaomi, there is no doubt that they are new companies that have emerged through transformation.

Therefore, for Lenovo, perhaps it is necessary not only to pursue the speed of change, but also the depth of change. For example, Lenovo's acquisition of MOTO is much faster than when Lenovo acquired IBM's PC business. But from the perspective of change itself, is this rapid integration Lenovo-izing MOTO, or Lenovo being MOTO-ized, or Lenovo-MOTO truly mobile? This is indeed a question. In other words, if Lenovo wants to achieve real CHANGE, it must make a decisive decision without hesitation and without looking back. Perhaps when we look back at "Xudong replacing Liu Jun", we will not be so surprised, but more taken for granted.

Lenovo's change in hiring ideas from Yuanqing's OPEN

If many people have as much experience as I have, they may think of the time when Lenovo acquired IBM PCD in 2005. Liu Jun was the chief operating officer of Lenovo China at the time, and he also made great contributions in the integration of Lenovo and IBM PC business.

In his initial employment and work style, Yang Yuanqing had already shown a preliminary transition from steady to sharp, which became even more obvious afterwards.

Especially in the first few years of the Internet era, Yang Yuanqing often made decisive changes. From the establishment of the Internet subsidiary Magic Factory, to the announcement of the appointment of Lan Qi as the president of Lenovo Group at the beginning of the year, to be fully responsible for the two core businesses, to the integration of the PC business and the enterprise business into a unified strategic unit, whether it is personnel or business changes, it always makes people feel that the decision is "very sudden". Thinking carefully, the logic is reasonable. Lenovo is decisive when it needs to change, of course, this also requires Yuanqing's attitude to be more OEPN.

Surprisingly, Yang Yuanqing's comment on Chen Xudong within Lenovo was also the same word: OPEN. It is not difficult to understand why Yang Yuanqing chose to "support Brother Dong".

Let's take a look at Chen Xudong's resume: In 1999, Chen Xudong took the lead in building Lenovo's e-commerce system, and also proposed to the Ministry of Commerce that "no big or small, no right or wrong", advocating that everyone can speak freely if they have any questions; in November 2013, Chen Xudong took the lead in establishing Digital Marketing in Lenovo China, opening a precedent for Lenovo's two-way in-depth interaction with users. Chen Xudong took the lead and established the WeChat store "Xude Dongdong Qiang", fighting the transformation of traditional channel merchants and leading channel partners to transform to the Internet. Chen Xudong is also one of the first senior executives of Lenovo to open a personal Sina Weibo account, and now has more than 270 fans; in 2014, Chen Xudong decided to devote himself to the Internet and established Lenovo's subsidiary "Magic Factory".

It can be seen that among the many Lenovo "old hands", Chen Xudong's characteristics are not "PC-oriented". According to Yang Yuanqing's evaluation, "He likes to try new things, likes to experiment, and likes to take risks, which are the spirits we need." Recalling that before the Magic Factory was officially put into operation, Chen Xudong proposed to create a corporate culture of "no big or small, no right or wrong", which is exactly in line with the new era entrepreneurial spirit mentioned by Yang Yuanqing at the KO.

Overall, Chen Xudong's open style will make him consistent with the change direction that Lenovo needs at present, so I think Yang Yuanqing's choice is not difficult to understand. Lenovo Mobile's performance last year was actually not proportional to its investment. It can be said that today's mobile phone market is a collision of new companies, new products and new models. Lenovo, if you don't change now, it may be too late.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.