Chinese tech company Lenovo could face future pressure from Apple if the company increases its effort levels in the country, according to Lenovo CEO Liu Chuanzhi.
Chuanzhi has helped the company rebound from problems related to the financial crisis, and is keeping an eye out for threats on the horizon -- and believes Apple could be a threat, once CEO Steve Jobs takes a more serious approach to China.
"We are lucky that Steve Jobs has such a bad temper and doesn't care about China," Chuanzhi proclaimed in an interview with the Financial Times. "If Apple were to spend the same effort on the Chinese consumer as we do, we would be in trouble."
Apple has remained quiet regarding Chuanzhi's latest statement, but does plan to open 25 retail stores in China through the end of 2011. Furthermore, Apple's revenue in the first six months of the year totaled almost $1.3 billion -- a 200% year-over-year increase from 2009. Although $1.3 billion is just a sliver of the market -- and Apple's overall global business -- it's still a sign that Apple is beginning to gain traction there. The iPhone, available in China with China Unicom, must also contend with the Lenovo LePhone and other rivals.
The Chinese market is maturing rapidly, so western companies are paying attention and trying to slowly enter the highly competitive market. Despite concerns related to an unfair home field advantage and piracy, there is a large market for smartphones, netbooks, and other consumer products made by Chinese and foreign manufacturers. The country has more than 1 billion people, and is becoming increasingly tech-friendly and tech-savvy, which makes it an appealing target for Apple and other companies.
China was identified as one of five pirate nations in May, with the threat of piracy leading Microsoft to wait out the market. Google, Yahoo and other online businesses have had trouble dealing with human rights issues, but this is less of a problem for Apple and hardware companies.
