Why Lenovo's Adaptability Fuels Its Global Competitive Edge

Forbes

28-05-2025

Lenovo's global footprint shows why adaptability is the new competitive advantage.
I wrote about Lenovo's 20th anniversary of buying IBM's PC business a few weeks back. I shared the history of the deal and how surprised I and many others were about how successful Lenovo has integrated IBM's PC operation into its own and helped it become the #1 PC vendor today. It has become an important global tech supplier of not only PCs but also servers and a broad range of enterprise services.
However, as I reflect on Lenovo's stellar performance, I believe there is an even bigger story behind the company's success.
When I first joined Creative Strategies in 1981, some of my early projects for PC vendors focused on sourcing components and outsourcing some aspects of manufacturing. At that time, both tasks were pretty straightforward. PC manufacturing volumes were small, and most could be done in the U.S., even if many components came from other parts of the world. But today, manufacturing revolves around a worldwide supply chain and factories on most all continents.
Today, as geopolitical tensions rapidly reshape global supply chains, Lenovo has quietly demonstrated what strategic foresight looks like in a turbulent era. While the PC market grapples with declining indices and unpredictable tariffs, Lenovo is charting a different course—one built not on retreat but on reach. CEO Yuanqing Yang's comments this quarter reflect a core belief in Lenovo's DNA: adaptability.
In the past, I have personally spoken with Mr. Yang about his strategy for the company. Early on, he stressed to me that Lenovo needed to be agile and able to adapt. This philosophy has served them well and shows how his and his team's foresight has helped them grow into a viable international tech powerhouse.
With an 11-country manufacturing strategy, the company has effectively inoculated itself against regional disruptions. While others scramble to shift operations or suspend shipments altogether, Lenovo is executing a playbook years in the making. The results? A standout year — with revenue and net income up 21% and 36%, respectively, even as the broader S&P Technology Hardware Index slumped more than 5% year-to-date.
The key insight here isn't just logistics — it's about Lenovo's operating philosophy. Rather than abandoning China, the company maintains its manufacturing presence there, recognizing the long-term efficiencies and infrastructure advantages. This balance — between diversification and rooted expertise — enables Lenovo to absorb a $15 million tariff impact without blinking.
At the same time, Lenovo expanded its manufacturing footprint to ten other countries, which helped bolster its ability to meet the worldwide demand for its products and services.
Another company saw trouble with manufacturing in China as early as 2017 and began shifting much of its manufacturing to Viet Nam. Dell has also applied this adaptability and diversification strategy to its business and is now, like Lenovo, more prepared to weather current tariff problems.
Lenovo is showing the global marketplace that in a world defined by trade uncertainty and rising nationalism, the best supply chain strategy may be less about placing a bet on one country and more about being everywhere, all at once. It's not just a hedge—it's a blueprint for long-term resilience in a fragmented global economy.
This manufacturing strategy is a critical point. Depending on only one country as the leading manufacturer of a company's goods, especially given today's political climate and unpredictable leadership at any time now or in the future, the need for multiple manufacturing partners in many countries has become imperative.
No matter the product, companies can no longer rely exclusively on manufacturing in a single country. To remain resilient, they must design flexible strategies that anticipate an increasingly unpredictable global political and economic environment.
If companies do that, they will be on a better footing to navigate a global supply chain that allows them to adapt to any governmental or economic headwinds in the future.
Disclosure: Lenovo and Dell subscribe to Creative Strategies research reports along with many other high tech companies around the world.