Just a few days after announcing its plan to phase its eight-inch ThinkPad 8 tablets out of the U.S. market, Lenovo switched into a cool, 180-degree revert and stated it would be releasing more eight- and 10-inch tablets.
Lenovo took to its website to clarify a statement it made, stating that its eight-inch ThinkPad tablets would be redirected to other markets.
"We will continue to bring new Windows devices to market across different screen sizes, including a new 8-inch tablet and 10-inch tablet coming this holiday," stated Lenovo. "Our model mix changes as per customer demand, and although we are no longer selling ThinkPad 8 in the U.S., and we have sold out of Miix 8-inch, we are not getting out of the small-screen Windows tablet business as was reported by the media."
A Lenovo representative indicated that Americans were more interested in tablets 10 inches or larger than in small offerings. Another Lenovo representative, Raymond Gorman, said that his company was was adjusting its inventories to better-serve demand for its products.
"In other markets, particularly Brazil, China, and Japan, the demand for ThinkPad 8 has been much stronger, so we are adjusting our ThinkPad 8 inventories to meet increasing demand in those markets. If market demand for ThinkPad 8 changes, we will re-evaluate our strategy," said Gorman.
Lenovo has been thriving as the top dog in the PC market, which has been struggling as a whole. The Chinese company reported $38.7 billion in revenue at the close of fiscal year 2013, which was 14 percent higher than the previous year.
Lenovo said its tablet and smartphone sales during fiscal year 2013 were 18 percent higher than the previous year and 13 percent better by the rest of mobile market. Lenovo said the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013 was the fourth consecutive quarter that Lenovo sold more tablets and smartphones than PCs -- it sold 50 million PCs, 9.2 million tablets and 50 million smart phones.
Yuanqing Yang, Lenovo chairman and CEO, pointed to its latest revenue reports and its sales of approximately 114 million devices as proof that his company could weather any market conditions and prosper while doing so.
"Not only did we strengthen our leading position in PCs, but we gained three points in tablets by quadrupling sales volume and became the fastest growing major smartphone company in the world," stated Yang. "This demonstrates our capability to manage both businesses that are already mature, as well as those that are shifting to maturity."
