Lenovo Grabs Ex-Acer CEO For Consumer Brand Push

Lenovo has snapped up ex-Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci, who will act as a consultant for the company with particular emphasis on building it as a consumer brand. Lanci – who left Acer back in March over disagreements around device strategy with the company's board – will focus on Medion, the European computing firm Lenovo acquired in June. Previous rumors had suggested that Samsung was eyeing Lanci for his Euro notebook insight.

Whether or not the Korean company really was considering extending an offer, it now looks as though it's too late. "As a consultant to us, Gianfranco brings years of expertise and insights to Lenovo that will help us strengthen our growing global consumer business" Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang said of Lanci's new role.

Lenovo is currently the third largest PC manufacturer, the company claims, with 12.2-percent of the worldwide market share. Profits, meanwhile, have been almost doubling year-on-year. However, while the brand is well known among enterprise buyers, rivals have a bigger footprint among consumer sales. Lanci's history with Acer should help it with that, especially if Lenovo is willing to invest in tablets and smartphones which the outspoken Italian is believed to have clashed over with his previous employers.