Lenovo: Nothing New in LePad 2

Lenovo’s (HKEx: 992) name may contain the Latin word for “new”, but this company’s me-too strategy is showing it is hardly an innovator worthy of its position as the world’s fourth biggest PC seller. In the latest case of its follower approach, the company announced its going to launch the LePad 2, an updated version of its tablet PC. Uh, does this sound just a tiny bit familiar to anyone? If they’re going to so blatantly follow tablet PC leader Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), at least they could wait more than a week after Apple’s big iPad 2 announcement to announce their own latest me-too product. I do like the fact that Lenovo is trying to develop its own “Le” line of products, including LePads and LePhones, to become  more diversified in keeping with the times. But again, just take out the “Le” and substitute an “i” and … you get the picture. What’s more, the Apple products have a huge following in China, where Lenovo derives half of its revenue, while the Le monniker leaves most people scratching their heads. If Lenovo really wants to have a serious future in the global computing business, it’s going to have to step up its game a notch.