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According to a report on bloomberg.com, Lenovo, famous for its 2005 purchase of IBM's PC unit, had its European expansion plans foiled last year when Acer bought Packard Bell.

The report noted that PC makers such as Fujitsu and Siemens Computers may be the next target for an increasingly belligerent Lenovo.

The purchase of the IBM business three years ago made the company the world's third-largest computer maker, however the company lost that position to Acer in the second half of 2007, after its Taipei-based rival bought Packard Bell.

The report noted that during the first quarter, Lenovo shipped 21 per cent more PCs than a year earlier following demand from Asia. However that growth spurt trails Acer, whose 66 per cent growth is the fastest among the top four PC makers.

And says Bloomberg, Lenovo is also fighting a two-pronged battle to stem market-share losses to companies including Hewlett-Packard and Dell which are expanding their Chinese distribution networks.

The U.S. PC makers have introduced low-cost computers, which contributed to a decline in Lenovo's Chinese market share to 29 per cent from 36 per cent a year earlier.