“It was a record year for Lenovo: $ 60.7 billion in revenue, 25 percent more than in 2019. And one billion more gross, a 74 percent increase, which translates into a + 77 per cent of net proceeds “. In connection from his estate in the Langhe, Gianfranco Lanci is satisfied. At the age of 67, he is preparing to end his long career in information technology as President and Chief Operating Officer of the world‘s first computer brand, to reinvent himself as a producer of excellent wines. Meanwhile, he continues with the numbers: “Today we have 22.4 percent of the global market”, he explains in this exclusive interview for Italian Tech. “With the pandemic we have gone from a PC for every home to a PC for every person, that is for all family members, apart from the little ones. Demand has therefore returned to double-digit growth ”.
Has the personal computer really become personal?
“Forced to stay at home, many have discovered that with the PC you can play games, watch movies, listen to music: applications for which a smartphone was normally used, but which work better with the computer. It was considered a somewhat boring tool, where you can do boring things: with the pandemic the perception of the PC has completely changed, and there is no turning back from here ”.
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What features and functions are considered decisive for the purchase?
“Today it is assumed that the processor is capable of supporting the most common applications, so it is no longer as relevant as it used to be. The graphics count, because you need a good GPU to play, but also the audio, to listen to music, the camera, to chat, and not just for business purposes. And here I must admit that the whole industry needs to improve further, because if the video quality on smartphones is on average high, there is still a lot to do on a PC, and Lenovo is seriously working in this direction ”.
What kind of computers did they sell in 2020?
“We have seen a sharp decline in desktops, which are mainly products for the business, commercial or public administration area: during the pandemic these sectors did not invest, but even now purchases are oriented towards notebooks, because if a new emergence a desktop is more complicated to take home. We have seen significant growth in the Yoga convertible line, which are preferable to traditional laptops for watching movies or gaming, but still allow for easy use of external keyboards, joysticks and other peripherals ”.
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How much has chip scarcity affected this year’s results? If you had more, would you have produced and sold more?
“Despite a record year, despite 20 percent growth and spectacular results, we could still have delivered 20-25 percent more. For us, the greatest difficulties arise from the lack of a few cents chips, indispensable for PCs. In recent months we have had no problems with CPUs, GPUs and the most important components, while already from the third-fourth quarter of last year it became difficult to find secondary integrated circuits ”.
Why?
“Even objects like refrigerators, washing machines, ovens, televisions are smart, not to mention cars: they need a motherboard that requires integrated circuits (ICs) and therefore demand has grown faster than supply. Many of these circuits, then, are produced with old technologies (24-28 nm against the current 7-14 nm), in factories with limited capacity, where no new investments have been made for years because no one felt the need. The shortage derives from this, and computers have contributed, but the crisis is mainly due to the automotive sector: in a car today there are many cards where the same integrated circuits that we use are used ”.
When it will end?
“Now we are starting to invest in new technologies also for ICs, new factories are being built all over the world, but it will take 12-18 months just to make the production lines, so I guess this situation will not be resolved before halfway. next year. We will continue to deal with the lack of chips at least until the end of 2022 ”.
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Spotify, Airbnb, Uber, Netflix teach us that it is not necessary to own something to be able to use it: will we get to this for computers too?
“If we consider the auto sector as an indicator, it is clear that the trend is to pay a fee for use rather than a purchase price: the user has a fixed and predictable cost, is protected by assistance, and at the end of the period he returns the car and takes a new one. This also applies to PCs, which today are no longer changed every 5-6 years, but every 3-4 years. The computer as a service is becoming more and more popular even among private users, but for companies this phenomenon has been growing for a while, and in fact in Lenovo there is a group called Solutions & Services Group which today has 5 billion in turnover, 8 billion for one hundred of the total “.
You are Italian and have a leading role in a global company. From your point of view, how has the pandemic affected the market in Italy compared to the rest of the world?
“We have seen the same growth in home work and distance learning observed in all Western countries. But I believe that Italy must make a serious effort to digitize, taking advantage of the Recovery Fund and the support of the European Union, because in comparison with other countries it is still behind and has structural problems that must be solved. A common orientation must be established at the central level, then entrusting the peripheral branches to put it into practice. There is a need for systems to communicate with each other, for data to be compatible and for information to be exchanged easily ”.
Minister Colao to Italian.Tech has hypothesized a team of experts at the disposal of the Regions and institutions to start them towards digitization in an autonomous but centrally coordinated framework, with sanctions for those who do not comply.
“From the point of view of technology, Colao knows what he is talking about: as a manager he has always been used to managing many countries”.
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Now she and I are talking via Teams, but sometimes the picture freezes and the audio cuts out. What is the solution?
“The 5G. I firmly believe in the importance of fifth generation networks, because if we have connection difficulties now, we will have more and more in the future. 5G is fundamental in the race to digitalization ”.
What about remote work?
“It was already growing before the pandemic, then it exploded with lockdowns: companies, employees and managers have discovered that you can work from home with the same levels of efficiency as in the office. At Lenovo we are thinking of a hybrid solution, 3 days remotely and 2 days on site, or 4 + 1. We will never go back to the office 5 days a week again, because smart working is a benefit for everyone “.
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EMANUELE CAPONE
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