BEIJING, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - China's Lenovo Tuesday stressed it would press ahead with plans to expand in Europe regardless of whether it succeeds in buying European personal computer maker Packard Bell, which rival Acer covets.

"We have plans in Europe without Packard Bell, plans to do it organically," Lenovo chief executive William Amelio told reporters in Beijing.

"If we could have done it with Packard Bell it would have been great," he said, with implicit recognition that Lenovo now had little chance of acquiring the Netherlands-based firm, which would have been "a great fit" with its strong foothold in Western Europe.

Acer confirmed Friday its intention to buy Packard Bell through US group Gateway it recently bid for, by exercising Gateway's right of first refusal to buy Paris-based PB Holding Co., the parent company of Packard Bell.

Amelio nevertheless again stressed that Lenovo, one of the world's leading PC makers, had not given up hope.

"We're still very interested," he said. "It's not over until it's over."

But he also recognised there were "no discussions whatsoever" a few weeks after having announced Lenovo was in negotiations to acquire Packard Bell and benefit from its strong presence in Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Norway.

Lenovo intends to launch mid to top-range consumer products for Europeans "soon, definitely before the Olympics" in Beijing August 2008, he said.

The company hopes its sponsorship of the Games will help establish its international reputation the way its links with Formula 1 have done in Asia.

"We want to position ourselves globally... promote (the) brand and sell more volume," said Lenovo president Yang Yuanqing.

Lenovo, which employs more than 20,000 people worldwide, is one of the leading PC manufacturers, especially following its purchase of IBM's PC business in 2004.

Set up with about 25,000 dollars of investment in 1984, the company today has a sales turnover of 14.6 billion dollars, according to its management.

Technology research firm Gartner in July classified Lenovo as the world's number three manufacturer with eight percent of the market in the second quarter of 2007, behind Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

Acer, then in fourth position, should take Lenovo's place following its acquisition of Gateway, with a nine percent share of the market, according to analysts.