Best Buy Selects NPD as Data of Record for Market Tracking

News release:

Best Buy Selects NPD as Data of Record for Market Tracking

MINNEAPOLIS, June 6, 2012 - Best Buy today announced that it has selected the consumer tracking service of The NPD Group, Inc. as its data of record for market sizing, share measurement, and demographic assessment of the consumer electronics, information technology, and mobile phone industries.  NPD's consumer tracking service provides information from nearly 2 million consumers who tell NPD what they purchase and where.    This consumer information is then calibrated with data collected from a panel of over 900 retailers representing 150,000 doors worldwide.  The service provides a total market view, encompassing activity at all brick and mortar and online channels "Selecting NPD's consumer tracking as our data of record gives Best Buy and our vendors an advantage in working together to identify key consumer trends," said Mike Vitelli, Best Buy President of Americas. Bill Hoffman, Best Buy Sr. VP of Customer Insights added, "Our industry is changing rapidly so it is critical to have broad and deep insight that enables us to understand and address competition and position Best Buy to best meet our customers' needs." "We are excited that Best Buy has selected NPD as its data of record," said Dennis Brown, Group President, Home, Consumer and Commercial Technology at The NPD Group.  "By identifying a standard, Best Buy is demonstrating its leadership in bringing market research practices successfully used in packaged goods to a new industry and supporting fact-based decision making that should be profitable not only for Best Buy, but also for its vendors and its customers." About Best BuyBest Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is a leading multi-channel global retailer and developer of technology products and services. Every day our employees - 167,000 strong - are committed to helping deliver the technology solutions that enable easy access to people, knowledge, ideas and fun. We are keenly aware of our role and impact on the world, and we are committed to developing and implementing business strategies that bring sustainable technology solutions to our consumers and communities. For information about Best Buy, visit www.bby.com and to shop at Best Buy, visit www.bestbuy.com. About The NPD Group, Inc. The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 2,000 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, entertainment, fashion, food, home and office, sports, technology, toys, video games, and wireless. For more information, contact us, visit http://www.npd.com/, or follow us Twitter at https://twitter.com/npdgroup.

Lenovo Establishes Industrial Base in Wuhan

News release:

Lenovo Establishes Industrial Base in Wuhan

Lenovo’s new facilities in Wuhan will improve the company’s capacity to innovate in mobile internet market and optimize its global supply chain

Beijing – May 7, 2012: Lenovo Group and the Wuhan government today held a groundbreaking ceremony for the establishment of the Lenovo (Wuhan) Industrial Base. The site will include integrated facilities for mobile Internet product R&D, production and sales. The new facility will help drive Lenovo’s innovation capability in the field of mobile Internet and optimize its global supply chain, helping the Company to develop and deliver new mobile internet products and bring them to its customers even faster. Total investment over the next five years is expected to be approximately RMB5 billion, and the facility will begin operations in October 2013.
 

“As an industry leader, we are aggressively moving forward into the PC Plus era, and with our Mobile Internet Digital Home group actively engaged, we are accelerating development in smart phones, tablets, and other mobile Internet terminal markets," said Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo Group chairman and CEO. "We’re determined to firmly seize the tremendous opportunities for innovation in this market, so that Lenovo's customers have even more opportunities to own our award-winning products, from PCs to mobile Internet devices. “When it begins operations, the Lenovo (Wuhan) Industrial Base will greatly improve our innovative capability and further optimize our supply chain, giving us a solid foundation to win in a broader market.”
 

The Lenovo (Wuhan) Industrial Base will mainly focus on the R&D, production and sales of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices that will cover the Chinese and global markets. By 2014 total sales revenue from the industrial base is expected to reach RMB10 billion, increasing to RMB50 billion within the next five years. The facility also has the potential to create nearly 10,000 job opportunities in the coming years, in a variety of related businesses. Included in this number, Lenovo within the next few years expects to employee several thousand R&D and management staff located at Wuhan, focused solely on advancing R&D in mobile Internet devices and application. The Lenovo (Wuhan) Industrial Base will help improve Lenovo’s entire supply chain as well as its R&D and marketing systems, by building even more end-to-end product capability.
 

As the central city supported by China’s strategy of promoting the development of central regions, Wuhan hosts the nation’s second independent innovation demonstration area after Beijing’s Zhongguancun. Wuhan has benefitted from the government’s efforts to promote the development of China’s central and western regions and has great growth potential, having already attracted investment from many Fortune 500 companies.
 

At the end of 2011, Lenovo became the world’s second-largest PC maker after being the world’s fastest growing PC maker for nine consecutive quarters. At the same time, Lenovo’s mobile Internet business made significant progress. The company is now a top-three smart phone maker in China with double-digit market share, and the second-place tablet maker with a market share of 16.5%, far ahead of its competitors in the android market.

 

ABOUT LENOVO

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $US21 billion personal technology company – and the second largest PC company in the world, serving customers in more than 160 countries. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the Company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina.  For more information, see www.lenovo.com.

Accenture Announces Advisory Board for U.S. Federal Business

February 07, 2012

Accenture Announces Advisory Board for U.S. Federal Business

Key Leaders Bring Decades of Government Experience and Industry Knowledge

 Valued by Clients

RESTON, Va.; Feb. 7, 2012 – Nationally recognized experts, and leaders with experience across the U.S. federal government, will join the newly formed Accenture U.S. Federal Advisory Board.

The advisory board will provide Accenture Federal Services  with fresh perspectives on the federal market, industry trends and business strategies.  The group will serve in an internal advisory capacity and will meet quarterly.

“The U.S. federal market is the cornerstone of our global public service business,” saidStephen J. Rohleder, group chief executive of Accenture’s Health & Public Service Operating Group.  “We are honored to draw on the decades of experience from these esteemed leaders to gain even more valuable insights that will help us create offerings and build additional capabilities to better serve the needs of our U.S. federal clients.”  

The advisory board members include:

• James Cartwright, USMC General, ret., former vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and lead for U.S. Strategic Command.
• Michael Chertoff, former U.S. Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security; currently chairman of The Chertoff Group.  
• Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senator; senior policy advisor at DLA Piper’s Government Affairs practice.
• William J. Lynn, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, the second-highest ranking official at the Department of Defense.
• Mary Peters, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and president of Mary Peters Consulting.

“We are constantly expanding our expertise to meet the changing needs of our clients,” saidKay Kapoor, who leads Accenture’s federal business.  “The advisory board members bring the right mix of federal experience to help Accenture continue to shape innovative solutions that are needed at a time when our government is facing unprecedented challenges.”

Accenture’s federal business serves every cabinet-level department and 20 of the largest federal organizations.  The U.S. federal portfolio spans across clients in civilian, defense, intelligence and public safety agencies.

The nation’s leading independent voice on corporate citizens, Corporate Responsibilitymagazine, ranked Accenture second on its list of the “Best Corporate Citizens in Government Contracting." The publication recognized the company’s role in embracing social responsibility and transparency when working with government agencies.

Learn more about Accenture’s work with federal agencies and delivering Public Service of the Future.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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