Earlier reports stated that investors are pleased with Lenovo CEO’s announcement to reveal the company’s plans for expansion in Brazil tomorrow.  According to Bloomberg, Lenovo shares rose by 1.2 percent to close at HK$6.62, the highest level since August 21.

Though nothing has yet been unveiled regarding their Brazilian expansion yet, just the thought of expanding globally tickled investors’ fancy.  And why shouldn’t it?   According to Canalys, Lenovo is the third largest PC vendor in the world, after Apple and HP.  Apple took the top spot as their iPad (yes it is a computer) has been flying off the shelves since the new version launched.  If you remove tablets from the equation, Lenovo takes the second spot after HP.  This is big for Lenovo since they’ve been fighting for that position with Dell for some time now.

Back in July, Lenovo announced plans to invest some $30 million to build a computer factory and distribution center in Itu, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo.  The factory expects to employ as many as 700 employees in the span of two years, the time expected for the facility to reach full capacity.

Lenovo’s interest in Brazil stems from the need to cater to first-time PC buyers in Brazil, which is seen as an emerging market.

Global expansion

Though Lenovo’s business is doing well, there are still some markets wherein sales aren’t that good.  And that’s what they want to address with their expansion, namely by making  acquisitions in markets where they are doing poorly.

“We would fully leverage this tool if the target is consistent with our strategy,” Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing said in a telephone interview from Beijing. “Any area which is consistent with our strategy where we are weak, we would like to consider acquisitions.”

Lenovo has been fortunate with their acquisitions, so far.  In 2005, they bought the PC division of IBM, bought control of Medion AG (MDN), an Essen, Germany-based computer maker, and the PC unit of Tokyo-based NEC Corp. last year.  With the acquisitions, Lenovo’s sales rose 37 percent to $29.6 billion over the years.

And since acquisitions may be the key to their global dominance, they want to see if this will also work in the mobile and connected device market.

Lenovo overtook Apple in smartphone sales in China during the second quarter of this year, and they’re planning to unveil 40 new smartphones in the coming months.  Delivering numerous types of devices that would cater to the different needs or budgets will certainly help Lenovo gain more consumers in these highly targeted areas.  Lenovo started selling smartphones in China about two and a half years ago and according to CEO Yang Yuanqing, their devices would soon be available in the Philippines and Indonesia.

“Some companies use just one model to cover all the price bands and customer segments,” Yang said. “We will have multiple models to cover different price bands. We will have a much broader, wider product portfolio. Our development cycle will be much faster than our competitors.”

Though Yang refused to divulge information regarding their next acquisition, it is expected to be related to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, but Lenovo’s also looking into the internet TV market.