Founded in 1984 in Beijing by a group of eleven computer scientists, Lenovo has bit by bit grown into China's biggest PC and information service company. Since March of 2004, the Chinese computer firm has been the official partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as part of a strategy to promote its name around the globe.

Radio86 spoke with Jean-Michel Donner, the director of Lenovo France, about this global strategy.

The enterprise, initially called "Legend," owes its current status to the success of its translation software, which converted information into Chinese characters. Nine years after listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 1994, the company changed its name to Lenovo. "Le" is all that remains of the original name, and novo ("new" in Latin) is a reference to the innovative character of the company.

In May of 2005, Lenovo made headlines by purchasing the PC branch of the international IT giant IBM for 1.25 billion dollars. The main goal of the move was to profit from the extensive network built by the American company, which opened doors to 126 countries. Since then, the company has been headquartered in North Carolina in the US, although all major decisions are still approved by the Beijing branch, in accordance with the company's "global sourcing" strategy, which means having operations on all five continents, Jean-Michel Donner says.

The "Xiang Notebook" is a limited series Olympics-themed laptop. (Image: mobimania.com)The group is intent on making its brand a household name around the world. This it aims to achieve through taking part in events which will bring it commercial benefits. When Beijing, Lenovo's birth place, bid to host the 2008 Olympics, the company immediately supported the venture. On March 26, 2004, the group became the official partner of the the International Olympic Committee.

The partnership was first put to test at the Turin Winter Games in February of 2006. But this experience was only practice for the great challenge to come: the Beijing Olympics, an event of an entirely different caliber with four times as many athletes. Lenovo will provide about 20,000 machines, laptops and ThinkPads for this year's Olympics. In addition, 500-600 Lenovo engineers will help keep things in running order.

Lenovo will also take front stage at the Olympics due to the fact its designers and engineers are responsible for the design of the Olympic torch. According to its designers, the "Cloud of Promise," is an embodiment of the Olympic spirit and the essence of Chinese culture.

And Jean-Michel Donner does not hesitate to compare the conception of this object with the development of new computers, since they both follow the same design process, which seeks to find a solution to a need with the help of innovative new technologies, and hopefully ends with a successful product.