Lenovo personal computer brand in China since 1997. In 2001, "Business Week" named him one of Asia's rising stars in business. Yang was president and CEO of Lenovo until 2004, when Lenovo closed its acquisition of IBM's PC division, after which Yang was succeeded as Lenovo CEO by IBM's Stephen M. Ward, Jr. Ward was succeeded by Bill Amelio on 20 December 2005. In February 2009, Yang replaced Amelio as CEO and has served in that capacity ever since. Yang was chairman of Lenovo's board from 2004 to 2008, and returned as chairman in 2012 alongside his role as CEO. In
Lenovo were driven by the popularity of Apple's iPhone and Lenovo's desire to increase its market share in mainland China. Lenovo passed Apple to become the No. 2 provider of smartphones to the Chinese market in 2012. However, due to there being about 100 smartphone brands sold in China, this second only equated to a 10.4% market share. In May 2012, Lenovo announced an investment of US$793 million in the construction of a mobile phone manufacturing and R&D facility in Wuhan, China. On January 27, 2011, Lenovo formed a joint venture to produce personal computers with Japanese electronics firm NEC. The