Lenovo CEO on Apple, Samsung: 'Our mission is to surpass them'

By Miguel Helft, senior writer January 30, 2014: 4:01 PM ET

In an interview with Fortune, Yuanqing Yang says that his company seeks to replicate its ThinkPad success with Motorola.

FORTUNE -- Fresh from signing a $2.91 billion deal with Larry Page to acquire Google's Motorola unit, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang spoke to Motorola employees for 45 minutes at the latter company's headquarters outside of Chicago on Thursday. Immediately after that meeting, Yang discussed the deal and Lenovo's plans to compete in the smartphone market with Fortune.
The following is an edited transcript of that conversation.
You just spoke with Motorola employees in Chicago. What was your message to them, and how was it received?
The message to them is that this is a good combination. We are very complementary to each other. Together we can win in the smartphone industry. I wish we could sell more than 100 million smartphones together in the year 2015. I think the team here is very motivated and understands that we are very complementary. Lenovo currently has China and emerging markets. They have the U.S., Latin America, and a little bit of the European market. We are both committed to innovation. They have very strong engineering capabilities and very good relationships with carriers. So this combination is perfect.
How did you first get interested in Motorola?
It's a very, very interesting love story. We were interested in Motorola a long time ago, even when they split into two companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions (MSI) [in January of 2011 --Ed.].
Right after Google (GOOG) bought Motorola [in 2012 ], I invited [Google executive chairman] Eric Schmidt to have a dinner at my house. I told him, "If you think you want run the hardware business, you can keep the business; but if you are not interested in the hardware business, we definitely can handle that, take over that."
He remembered that, and two months ago, he sent me an e-mail. I called him back, and he asked me, "Are you still interested in Motorola?" I said, "Definitely." We started to discuss it. I went to Silicon Valley many times. [Google CEO] Larry Page invited me to his house to have a dinner. Very quickly -- in just two months -- we closed the deal.
You've said that you plan to sell more than 100 million smartphones by 2015. That's roughly double both companies' combined 2013 sales: According to IDC, Lenovo sold 45 million devices for the year and Motorola about 10 million. Where is the growth going to come from?
Definitely both emerging markets and Motorola markets. Even though Motorola has a lot of influence in the U.S. and Latin America, the market share is still limited. So we still have very good opportunity to grow. We want to become a very decent player in these markets.
Before this deal, your plan was to build up the Lenovo brand in the U.S. and then enter the market with smartphones. This deal changes that strategy -- now, you have two brands of smartphones that are sold in different markets. Moreover, Lenovo's product strategy is to offer a large number of models, while Motorola has a simplified product line. How will you integrate those two in the U.S. and in emerging markets?
We will fully leverage the Motorola brand in the U.S. and Latin America, just like we leveraged the ThinkPad brand in the PC space. Motorola will be our smartphone product.
So there will be no Lenovo-branded phones in the U.S.?
We haven't made a final decision. Most likely we will leverage the Motorola brand, but it could be something like "Motorola by Lenovo."
In China, certainly we will keep the Lenovo brand, but it is possible that we will reintroduce the Motorola brand as well. We have a full range of channels to sell our phones, so for different channels we could use different brands to maximize our sales volume.
Regarding the product portfolio, we don't want to be playing just in the entry level or to be viewed as a cheaper brand. We want to compete in the full range of the product line, including the premium segment. Both Lenovo and Motorola have the DNA of innovation. I believe we can develop a very innovative or very premium product. Meanwhile, we should be more competitive in the entry level given that Lenovo has global scale in our manufacturing capabilities and operational efficiency.
Will you continue making Motorola phones in the U.S., or will manufacturing shift to China?
We haven't made a final decision. In my understanding, Motorola does customization of phones [in the U.S.]. If that is what the market needs, we will definitely keep that. It is a good model, so we may replicate that in other markets.
Between Texas and North Carolina, where you make PCs, how many manufacturing employees will Lenovo have in the U.S.?
About 250. [A Lenovo spokesman clarified that all of those 250 workers are in North Carolina, and the workers who assemble Motorola phones in Texas are employees of a contract manufacturing firm, not Motorola.]
Lenovo now faces two regulatory reviews, including from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.: One for Motorola and one for your purchase of the IBM server business, announced last week. Do you think you can get cleared on both? What is your message to U.S. regulators and lawmakers who may be concerned about a Chinese company pushing into the U.S. market?
We will cooperate with all the governments to go through the process.
With Motorola, Lenovo will be the No. 3 smartphone maker worldwide. Do you think your company can catch up with Apple (AAPL) or Samsung, who are still far ahead of you? And how long will it take?
Definitely, over time. Our mission is to surpass them.
Are there similarities between this deal and the Lenovo acquisition of IBM's PC business in 2005, which transformed Lenovo into a global PC brand?
I think there are lots of similarities. We are definitely complementary, so we can replicate the success we've had with the ThinkPad in the PC business. I think this is a good deal for both Google and Lenovo. Together, we can win more market [share] and have a worldwide footprint.
For more, read Fortune's detailed look at Lenovo and its ambitions from 2013.

Posted in: Apple, Google, Larry Page, Lenovo, Mobile, Motorola, Samsung, Smartphones, ThinkPad, Yuanqing Yang

Sloane Business Management Consultants: WHO: Imminent global cancer 'disaster' reflects ag...

Sloane Business Management Consultants: WHO: Imminent global cancer 'disaster' reflects ag...: By Tim Hume and Jen Christensen, CNN February 5, 2014 -- Updated 0020 GMT (0820 HKT) WHO predicts 'imminent human disaster...

WHO: Imminent global cancer 'disaster' reflects aging, lifestyle factors

By Tim Hume and Jen Christensen, CNN

February 5, 2014 -- Updated 0020 GMT (0820 HKT)

WHO predicts 'imminent human disaster'

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Cancer is preventable, if resources are dedicated to fighting it, experts say
• New cases of cancer are tipped to rise 57% worldwide in 20 years, says the WHO
• World Cancer Report says developing countries will be disproportionately hit
• Even rich countries will struggle to deal with the spiraling costs of treatment

(CNN) -- Cancer cases are expected to surge 57% worldwide in the next 20 years, an imminent "human disaster" that will require a renewed focus on prevention to combat, according to the World Health Organization.

The World Cancer Report, produced by the WHO's specialized cancer agency and released on World Cancer Day, predicts new cancer cases will rise from an estimated 14 million annually in 2012 to 22 million within two decades. Over the same period, cancer deaths are predicted to rise from 8.2 million a year to 13 million.

The rising incidence of cancer, brought about chiefly by growing, aging populations worldwide, will require a heavier focus on preventive public health policies, said Christopher Wild, director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

"We cannot treat our way out of the cancer problem," he said. "More commitment to prevention and early detection is desperately needed in order to complement improved treatments and address the alarming rise in cancer burden globally."

The report notes that the rocketing cost of responding to the "cancer burden" -- in 2010, the economic cost of the disease worldwide was estimated at $1.16 trillion -- is hurting the economies of rich countries and beyond the means of poor ones.

Report editor: We can reduce cancer risk

The report said about half of all cancers were preventable and could have been avoided if current medical knowledge was acted upon. The disease could be tackled by addressing lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and exercise; adopting screening programs; or, in the case of infection-triggered cancers such as cervical and liver cancers, through vaccines.

"I know the report said we can't treat our way out of (the cancer problem) but there are major things we can do," said Dr. David Decker who works in oncology at Florida Hospital in Orlando. "Virtually 80 or 90 percent of lung cancers are caused by smoking. I know stopping smoking is not easy for people, but it does seem like a pretty simple way to reduce the numbers."

"The cancer rates are not going up for shocking reasons, but for reasons that are easier to understand, and if we improve overall health, there are things we can do to prevent this from happening," Decker said.

Cutting smoking rates would have a significant impact, as lung cancer remained the most commonly diagnosed cancer (1.8 million cases a year, or 13% of total cancer diagnoses) and the deadliest, accounting for about one-fifth (1.6 million) of all cancer deaths worldwide.

There is a silver lining to the report, some experts said: It may lend urgency to the fight against cancer. Countries such as the United States present examples of success stories stemming from legislation and financial resources devoted to cancer prevention.

"The good news is, in (the United States), cancer mortality is trending downward, and that would be more true if you make an age adjustment," said Dr. Walter Curran, chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University's School of Medicine in Atlanta.

"Since we have an aging population, the cancer rate increases, and if you adjust for the aging of America, the cancer rate is declining notably."

Curran said a typical 20-year-old American who doesn't smoke, "who has a good diet and a healthy lifestyle, someone with moderate alcohol consumption and who takes preventive health measures like regularly seeing a doctor and getting exercise -- their chance of cancer is significantly less than someone who for example lives in a developing country in Africa right now."

However, the United States is dealing with an obesity epidemic -- the rates of adults who are considered obese has doubled since the 1970s -- and drinking excessively is still the No.3 cause of lifestyle-related death.

Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. However, when the U.S. Surgeon General linked tobacco to lung cancer 50 years ago, more than 40% of the adult population smoked; now it's about 19%.

Public health initiatives have also made a difference in smoking rates. The report eventually spurred local governments to make it harder for a smoker to find a place to practice their habit. Many restaurants, bars, and even public parks ban smoking.

National leadership gave state governments license to raise taxes on cigarettes so much that people quit because they could no longer afford their habit.

Money from the federal tobacco lawsuit settlement went into smoking cessation programs and gave farmers incentives to grow crops other than tobacco. The FCC banned persuasive cigarette ads that may have encouraged young people to smoke.

Smoking rates remain high in Asia and Africa. China -- where one-third of the world's cigarettes are smoked, according to the World Health Organization -- only recently moved to ban indoor public smoking.

The report's authors suggested governments take similar legislative approaches to those they had taken against tobacco in attempting to reduce consumption of alcohol and sugary drinks, and in limiting exposure to occupational and environmental carcinogens, including air pollution.

According to the report, the next two most common diagnoses were for breast (1.7 million, 11.9%) and large bowel cancer (1.4 million, 9.7%). Liver (800,000 or 9.1%) and stomach cancer (700,000 or 8.8%) were responsible for the most deaths after lung cancer.

"The rise of cancer worldwide is a major obstacle to human development and well-being," said Wild, the International Agency for Research on Cancer director. "These new figures and projections send a strong signal that immediate action is needed to confront this human disaster, which touches every community worldwide."

The report said the growing cancer burden would disproportionately hit developing countries -- which had the least resources to deal with the problem -- due to their populations growing, living longer and becoming increasingly susceptible to cancers associated with industrialized lifestyles.

More than 60% of the world's cases and about 70% of the world's cancer deaths occurred in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.

"In the developing world, we are really at the beginning of understanding how serious the cancer problem is in these countries," said Emory School of Medicine's Curran.

Cancers related to the HIV epidemic in developing countries and the spread of Hepatitis C are also on the rise, but so too is the general age of the population in developing counties. When you now have the potential to live long enough to see your grandchildren -- something that was not true even a decade ago in many developing countries -- your risk of having cancer is going to go up.

"When life expectancy get better, cancer rates will go up and so will cancer fatalities," Curran said.

Governments needed to appreciate that screening and early detection programs were "an investment rather than a cost," said Bernard Stewart, co-editor of the report -- and low-tech approaches had proven successful in some developing countries.

The World Cancer Report, which is published about once every five years, involved a collaboration of around 250 scientists from more than 40 countries. Tuesday is World Cancer Day.

READ: Samuel L. Jackson in new childhood cancer PSA

READ: Is lung cancer screening right for you?

READ: Surgeon general links colon cancer, diabetes to smoking

Nonprofit helps fight poverty in Mexico with microloans

Global Exchange, Rafael Romo

A nonprofit organization in Mexico called Envia is helping women in poverty by providing micro loans. Envia founder Carlos Topete told CNN that he was inspired to start the organization by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who pioneered the idea of micro loans, small loans for poor borrowers with a zero rate of interest.
The program was launched in 2008 with 12 women and operating with Topete's own money. In three years, it has grown to serve 260 women in five different communities in the valley of Oaxaca. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.