Lenovo appoints Oliver Ebel as Exec Director, MEA

Lenovo today announced a series of managerial changes including Oliver Ebel taking on the role of Executive Director and General Manager for Lenovo in the Middle East & Africa (MEA).

Moving from his current position as Executive Director and General Manager for Eastern Europe & Turkey (EET), Oliver takes the reins from Jack Lee, who will relocate to Hong Kong and assume the role of Corporate Vice President & General Manager of Lenovo Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea.

“I am excited to be taking up this mantle at a time when the market is thriving for Lenovo, and to have the opportunity to further push our brand and technology forwards in this region,” said Ebel.

In his capacity as the new head Lenovo’s MEA operations, Oliver aims to pursue strong business growth in the region. He will oversee operations, strategy development, sales, marketing and relationship management with all stakeholders in the PC industry for Lenovo’s commercial and consumer products, as well as services.

Reporting to Gianfranco Lanci, President EMEA, Senior Vice President Lenovo Group, Oliver brings a history of leadership success within the Lenovo family, having guided Lenovo’s return to growth in EET and subsequently transformed it into one of the company’s fastest growing markets.  Meanwhile, Jack will leverage his solid industry experience in the company’s domestic market and continue his focus on steering the company toward continued growth and operational excellence in his new role as General Manager of Lenovo in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea (HTK).

“For three years, our global strategy has focused on protecting the areas where we are strong and attacking the places with greatest opportunity. Lenovo has achieved enormous momentum with eleven straight quarters as the fastest growing PC Company, and our rise to the number 2 position in worldwide PC sales is testimony to the leadership we have in place to bring this strategy to fruition,” said Gianfranco Lanci, President, Lenovo EMEA.

“The Middle East and Africa business continues to be of significant importance during this extremely dynamic time in Lenovo’s history and I believe the managerial moves that we announce today provide the strength of leadership in key markets to take us to number one.”

During the past two years Lenovo has seen its Middle East and Africa business go from strength to strength, bolstered by the establishment of a high caliber and talented management team led by Jack Lee. Under his leadership, the business has achieved a number of successes, including a 70 percent annual uplift in the region’s sales and a move up by two positions to number 4 in the regional PC rankings (according to IDC, Q2 ,published reports) in 2012.

Oliver has over 17 years of experience in the IT industry across sales and sales management positions, on the customer side as well as on the business partner side, and at IBM prior to formation of the Lenovo business. In Lenovo he has held various senior positions including; Director Relationship Sales in Germany and Austria, Director Public Sector for Western Europe, General Manager of Lenovo CEE and most recently Executive Director and General Manager in Eastern Europe & Turkey.