As part of the restructuring, Lenovo said it was consolidating its China and Asia Pacific organizations, which are currently run as separate business units, into a single business unit -- Asia Pacific and Russia (APR). The new organization will help the company reduce its operating expense and eliminate duplicative support and staff functions.

APR will be headed by Chen Shaopeng, currently senior vice president, and president, Greater China. David Miller, senior vice president and president, Asia Pacific, will remain with Lenovo for a transition period.

From these restructuring actions, the company expects to realize savings of approximately US$300 million in the 2009/2010 fiscal year (ending March 31, 2010). The company anticipates taking a pre-tax restructuring charge of approximately $150 million, most of which will be taken in the fourth fiscal quarter (ending March 31, 2009).

"The actions we are taking are not easy, and we will act with compassion and respect for the individuals in our company who are most affected," said William J. Amelio, Lenovo's president and chief executive officer. "As hard as this news is for all of our Lenovo employees, we believe the steps we are taking today are necessary for Lenovo to compete in today's economy, and in the long run, will help us to continue to deliver exceptionally engineered PCs to our customers worldwide."