Lenovo made the Fortune 500.  Lenovo was ranked at the 499th place worldwide and at the 35th in China with 16.788 billion yuan annual sales.  It joins 35 other Chinese companies listed on the Fortune 500 in 2008.  However, Lenovo brings the unique distinction of being the first privately held non-monopoly company in China to make the listing.

For industry comparison HP is ranked 41st on the list with income of $104.29 billion and Dell is ranked 106th on the list with income of $61.6 billion.  This comparision is not an accurately direct comparison because Lenovo is in the manufacturing business while HP offers services in addition to computers.  Acer, in Taiwan, the world's third largest PC company, did not make this year's list.

The company expects significant growth in 2009 with its consumer brand, Idea.  Idea was first showcased in early 2008 and is aimed at the worldwide consumer market.

Lenovo has recently jumped into the Netbook category with its IdeaPad U110.  Shipping with 1.6GHz Intel core 2 Duo L7500 processor and Intel 965GM chipset, it expands to 2GB of RAM at 667MHz and a 120GB harddrive.  It also ships with two battery sets each lasting approximately 1.5 to two hours.  Such entry into this category indicates Lenovo's approach to staying with the market therby giving it a chance of retaining a Fortune 500 standing next year.

As befitting one of China's only Fortune 500 companies Lenovo has promised to open two PC service centers and two Internet lounges will open on July 25 for the approximately 30,000 international journalists expected to use the Main Press Center and Beijing International Media Center during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Unfortunately, the visa situation for foreign journalists hasn't improved and so the services offered by Lenovo may not be fully used for the games. X

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