enovo New Thinking, New Ideas The Chinese name for Lenovo, 联想, means connected thinking . Founded in 1984 by a group of eleven engineers in Beijing, it is this idea of connected thinking that helped Lenovo become one of the largest PC and notebook manufacturers in the world. After restructuring the company into two separate divisions Lenovo became responsible for manufacturing personal computers. In 2005, Lenovo purchased IBM s PC division which transformed Lenovo into a major international personal computer manufacturer. It was after this acquisition when Lenovo gained the rights to the products lines as well as licensed trademarks such as ThinkVision , ThinkPad , ThinkVantage , ThinkCentre , Aptiva and NetVista . While growing its notebook business, Lenovo has become a leader in the environmental PC movement. With the launch of the ThinkCentre A61e desktop PC in 2007, Lenovo become a leading manufacturer of environmentally-friendly computers. This was the first Lenovo product to receive vaunted EPEAT Gold Status. Through a no-questions-asked recycling service in all of the countries where Lenovo products are sold, Lenovo has made great strides in protecting the environment from harm. These strides were so great, in fact, that Greenpeace rated Lenovo as the world s most environmentally-friendly electronics firm in 2007 ahead of major competitors. Lenovo T60, T61, R61 and Z60 series along with many other notebook models are both EnergyStar and RoHS compliant. In recent years, Lenovo has used its presence as a prominent PC and notebook manufacturer to sponsor various events. These events include the 2006 Torino Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Lenovo designed the torch for the 2008 Olympics as well. At both the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic games, Lenovo is also sponsoring the World Anti-Doping Agency s Athlete Outreach program. Through marketing partnerships such as the ones illustrated above, Lenovo is able to increase consumer awareness of not just its notebooks and desktop PCs but its accessories such as mini-docks, adapters, cabling and other laptop accessories.