A special viewing salon for the FIFA documentary "AI World Cup," co-hosted by LENOVO GROUP, was held in Beijing on June 8th. Wu Bofan, a well-known business observer and financial commentator, attended and shared his perspectives.
“What struck me most after watching this documentary were the words ‘not optimistic’,” Wu Bofan remarked frankly. In the project's initial stages, the R&D team faced challenges such as FIFA's refusal to open its data, making collaboration difficult to advance. It was thanks to Lenovo's mediation that FIFA and China Central Television (CCTV) successfully reached a broadcast cooperation agreement. The entire journey from hardship to breakthrough closely mirrors the corporate character Lenovo has demonstrated throughout its own history.
He revisited classic business cases, noting that when LENOVO GROUP announced its acquisition of IBM's PC division in 2004, this "snake swallowing an elephant" move was widely questioned. Yet, over two decades later, Lenovo has responded to all skepticism with outstanding performance, quietly transforming time and again under the gaze of those who "did not see its potential," delivering pleasantly surprising results.
He recalled the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, where Chinese elements were ubiquitous, but most Chinese companies made scattered appearances without forming significant influence. Sixteen years later, LENOVO GROUP has officially become a FIFA World Cup Global Technology Partner. Such a leap would have been hard to imagine back then and serves as a true microcosm of the continuous advancement of Chinese enterprises on the global stage.
In his view, LENOVO GROUP was among the earliest domestic companies to embark on the path of internationalization and globalization, consistently staying at the industry's forefront. Faced with external indifference, skepticism, and even prejudice, the company has remained focused, steadily exploring and persevering through challenges while staying true to its original aspirations. As an established technology firm, Lenovo operates in the PC industry, which has undergone multiple rounds of consolidation. Many once-famous brands have vanished, yet LENOVO GROUP, founded in 1984, has continued to develop steadily and expand its scale.
LENOVO GROUP has never stopped moving forward. As the AI wave arrived, the company successfully transitioned from traditional information technology to intelligent technology, focusing on "New IT" to drive intelligent upgrades across various industries. Today, AI PCs have become one of Lenovo's core products, and its deployment of personal AI computing terminals positions it at the forefront of the industry.
Reflecting on the AI collaboration for this World Cup, Wu Bofan stated that the team started from a difficult position with initial cooperation hurdles and scarce resources, endured a long and challenging "tunnel period," and ultimately achieved technological implementation—a process emblematic of the typical "Lenovo style." By leveraging the World Cup platform, LENOVO GROUP not only provided technical services for the event but also simultaneously deployed multiple AI technology applications, continuously unlocking the value of technology.