Dell (DELL) China CEO David Miller has left his job and is rumored to be moving to rival Lenovo (LNVGY).
Dell has moved quickly to fill the void, placing both Liu Junling and Amit Midha as co-presidents of the company's business in China.
The company said the new leaders bring complementary skills and experiences to the shared role: Liu as an accomplished managing director in China; Midha as an effective practitioner and executive champion of Dell's unique, customer-focused direct business model.
Dell says it uses the same type of two-person management structure with great success in several parts of its organization. Michael Dell, the company's chairman of the board, and Kevin Rollins, Dell's chief executive officer, have a similar partnership atop the organization.
Some analysts quoted in local Chinese media say that Miller's departure may have something to do with Dell's unsatisfactory performance in the past few months. Miller joined Dell in 1999 and worked for Dell in Australia and New Zealand before coming to China. Chinese media speculate that he is now joining Lenovo, though Lenovo has not confirmed this.
"What we're achieving in China is exceptional, and Junling and Amit are ideal to oversee acceleration of our expansion in the country," said Steve Felice, president of Dell Asia-Pacific and Japan, to whom both men report as members of the company's Asia-Pacific and Japan leadership team. "We're growing strongly and profitably, because more and more customers in China are recognizing the superior value of direct relationships with Dell.
