Lenovo's Yang looks overseas for growth

With the global PC market turning flat and the Chinese smartphone market waning, Lenovo is arguably facing the biggest challenge since its establishment. What are your views on this?

We are certainly facing strong challenges this year. Lenovo experienced difficulties in 2008 because of declines in the enterprise sector. But the PC business remained healthy then.

The global PC business has showed no sign of a recovery. The integration of the Motorola unit is underway. So we have to find ways to grow new businesses.

We made a correct decision to move our focus from China to overseas markets. Lenovo-branded smartphones are growing rapidly in the Middle East and Africa. Motorola devices are also seeing strong sales in North America and Latin America. We are now a complete global player. The competition in the global smartphone market is not that intense like in China. Most Chinese companies do not have enough brands, channels and patents to fight in overseas markets. But years of overseas expansion have given Lenovo an edge in markets outside of China.

We will continue with our dual-brand strategy of exploring overseas markets with Lenovo and Motorola devices.

Are there any areas that you expect to see a quick expansion in the coming years?

Opportunities are everywhere. Chinese companies should build their competitiveness and speed up reform. Lenovo will focus on a few core business units such as PCs, mobility, cloud and enterprise products.

In the mobile segment, first, we are expanding to the emerging markets outside China. Second, we will enter the developed markets with newly released devices. Third, we are focusing on expanding our market channels and cooperating with telecom carriers to regain our leadership in the Chinese market.

In the PC sector, we are the world's largest in terms of shipments for 10 quarters. Currently, we hold 21 percent of the global market and are targeting 30 percent of the market outside of China.

Lenovo will continue growing in the global PC market by providing more innovative products and better user experiences.

You have been very active on microblogs since 2014, and you have urged other Lenovo executives to try marketing on social media. What are your takeaways from this experience?

After launching my microblog for a year, I find that Chinese netizens like to comment on topics regarding myself. For example, my hairstyle had received a lot reviews lately.

I log on to Weibo everyday to check netizens' comments. There is no doubt that social media is a great platform to post information related to Lenovo's businesses.

What do you do when you are free?

I have a fairly tight business schedule. Besides reading news and checking out microblogs and WeChat, I use my limited free time to play tennis and jog. Lefengpao (a step tracking app developed by Lenovo), is a very useful application that I indulge in.

What kind of books have you been reading lately?

Much of my reading is devoted to articles about the IT sector.

A part of the job of being the head of a multinational company is taking overnight flights. How do you adjust to jet lag?

I have no particular antidote on that, but I try to choose a midnight flight and take a good nap on the plane.