[August 21, 2012] Windows 8 tablets to face off vs. Microsoft Surface Tweet LENOVO, Aug 21, 2012 (Boston Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- the reliable maker of ThinkPad laptop computers -- is making a new push to become a household name. The company has signed a deal to become "the official PC partner" of the NFL, has become the No. 2 supplier of smartphones in China and is about to release a new line of tablets that will compete squarely against the upcoming Microsoft Surface. "Frankly, I feel strongly that, with what we bring to the table, we will beat them," said David Schmoock, Lenovo's North America president, who was in the Hub yesterday to meet with key retail partner Staples. "We have a track record of developing innovative products. That's what I stand behind. Microsoft decides they're going to get into the hardware business I'm not going to whine about it. I'm gonna compete with them. Vigorously." Lenovo will launch the industry's first flip-and-fold notebook/tablet -- which won best-in-class at the Consumer Electronics Show -- when Windows 8 is released in the fall. And now Schmoock, who spent nine years as an oversees marketing executive for Dell before joining Lenovo in 2006, finds himself in the same delicate position as nearly all Microsoft hardware partners. On one hand, he's a proponent of Windows 8; on the other hand, he's pitted against it where the Surface tablet is concerned. Schmook said Lenovo will have only a limited presence in Microsoft stores, one of which is opening in Boston on Thursday. At the same time, he's focused on deepening the 28-year-old Chinese company's relationship with other retailers. The company is gaining a larger smartphone presence in international markets, now with 35 percent marketshare in China, 30 percent in Japan and more than 20 percent in Germany. An entrance into the U.S. smartphone market is on the horizon, Schmoock said. But first, he would like to see company's share of the PC market here rise to 15 percent. It currently stands at 8.5 percent. "Then you have the right distribution, you have the right market coverage that makes sense to add a new product line," he said. It is not far-fetched, then, to wonder whether Lenovo will take a look at the floundering Blackberry-maker Research in Motion, with its robust patent portfolio. "If everything was to line up and it made sense, then I'm sure the board would look at doing an acquisition," Schmoock said. "But there is nothing now that we're looking at. ... That said we will always be looking at what makes sense for Lenovo long-term." [email protected] ___ (c)2012 the Boston Herald Visit the Boston Herald at www.bostonherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]