NEW YORK - China's
Lenovo Group Ltd, the world's third-largest PC
maker, announced February 23 that it was starting
to sell low-priced computers targeted at small US
businesses and consumers, taking the Lenovo brand
outside of China the first time and boosting its
competition with Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
The new products, named the 3000 product
family, include the latest processor technologies
in a new silver chassis, and distinct from
Lenovo's Think line of products, represent
Lenovo's first major
expansion into the US
computer market since it completed the purchase of
IBM's PC business last May.
"[The] Lenovo
3000 product family embodies a distinct
entrepreneurial persona by combing the most
successful components of enterprise level,
Thinkpad-inspired technologies with the latest
Lenovo innovations to create PCs users can depend
on," said Deepak Advani, Lenovo's vice president
and chief marketing officer. "Lenovo will offer
the new PCs as the smart choice for today's most
savvy entrepreneurs, priced to fit the budgets and
computing needs of even the smallest firms," he
added.
The Lenovo 3000 product features
built-in tools designed to help reduce IT expenses
in small business environments where every dollar
counts. These tools let small business owners
concentrate on their businesses - rather than
their IT - with virus recovery, simplified network
connectivity, and automatic updates, said the
Lenovo spokesman. Lenovo's 3000 desktops will
start at about US$350, while Lenovo 3000C Series
notebooks will start at about $599.
Small
and midsize businesses last year spent more than
$400 billion on computer-related products and
services worldwide, and that amount is expected to
increase in 2006, according to Gartner Inc. The
products were unveiled at the same time in 10
cities worldwide, including New York, Paris, and
Torino, Italy, where Lenovo has been a major
sponsor of the Olympics to help the firm expand
its brand recognition beyond China.
