Lenovo: Packard Bell not the end-all

Amidst rumors of Lenovo and Acer vying to snap up Packard Bell, the Chinese PC maker says that an acquisition is not a "be-all and end-all" strategy for the company.

Responding to ZDNet Asia's query on the status of Lenovo's discussions with Packard Bell, David Miller, Lenovo's president for Asia-Pacific, said in an interview: "We continue to be interested in Packard Bell, [however] Packard Bell in itself is not a single-point strategy."

Miller said that Packard Bell alone will not be "a live or die for us in our consumer business", noting Lenovo's strong performance in China's consumer space. He also said that the Chinese PC maker is doing well in the Asean region and India.

Acquiring Packard Bell, however, will benefit Lenovo in Europe. "They [would be] a nice leg-up in Europe for the consumer business," Miller said. "They've clearly got share we don't have, but that's not the only avenue to doing it.

"We've really expanded our transactional model in places like Germany, where organic growth is working very well," he added.

Noting that Lenovo is exploring "a number of opportunities", Miller said the company will continue to explore "every avenue possible", be it for organic growth, partnerships, joint ventures or acquisitions.

He added that the company will "look at each of them, not in its entirety, but individually to make sure it's additive and accredited to the business and not dilutive".

On Aug.7, Lenovo revealed that it was in talks to purchase Netherlands-based Packard Bell from principal owner John Hui, as part of its plans to expand its consumer business beyond its home turf.

However, the merger between Taiwanese PC maker Acer and Gateway may thwart the deal. According to Acer, Irvine, California-based Gateway has first rights to acquire Packard Bell.