It is with mixed feelings that I hail Liu Chuanzhi's return as chairman of Lenovo Group Ltd., the world's fourth largest personal-computer maker that just posted its first quarterly loss in almost three years.

Liu Chuanzhi, 65, replaces 45-year-old Yang Yuanqing, who is now chief executive officer of the maker of the ThinkPad laptops. Chief Executive Officer William Amelio -- who, like his fellow American predecessor Steve Ward, was part of Lenovo's ambition to become a truly global company -- resigned.

Although Rory Read, formerly the senior vice president, has been promoted to the new role of chief operating officer and president, the media and analysts still believe the changes mark the return of Lenovo's top management to Chinese control and a renewed focus on the Chinese home market.

In the last quarter, Lenovo's sales fell 22 percent in the Americas and 6.5 percent in the Greater China region, including the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Liu founded Lenovo -- then known as Legend -- with a group of engineers back in 1984 in Beijing. The Liu-Yang team formed in 1994, when Liu appointed Yang to take charge of the personal computer business. They were determined to change the fact that foreign brands controlled nearly 80 percent of the Chinese personal computer market. In just four years, sales genius Yang made Lenovo the best-selling personal computer brand in China and has kept the status ever since.

When I interviewed Liu in 2002 at a political event in Beijing, he spoke very little about his company. But he did mention a few times his vision of "going abroad, going global."

That global expansion became reality in 2004, when Lenovo acquired IBM's personal computer business with US$1.75 billion. Under criticism and pressure, Liu tried to justify the move at a press conference: "It's not an option to go risk-free and just stay in China."

But a global company is not necessarily a successful one.

My two cents on Lenovo's case is: It lost focus on both the product front and customer service. It didn't move fast enough to grow the classic ThinkPad brand or establish its own brands in America. The laptops may be cheaper, but they haven't stayed ahead of trends. Lenovo's flawed ordering system also causes delays and frustrates North American customers, including myself. Meantime, it put too much weight and hope on marketing, particularly the sponsorship to the Beijing Olympics.

The economy is bad, competition fierce and customers more sophisticated. The message for Liu is that it's not a time to be slow or sloppy.