Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group is planning to alter its 17-year tradition of targeting high-end business users by refocusing its ThinkPad notebooks at small businesses and home offices settings.

Wang Fang, deputy general manager of Lenovo's Greater China and Russia business division, said the company will seek to persuade smaller corporate clients and individual consumers to use Thinkpad notebooks, which the company acquired from IBM in 2005.

"We will stick to Thinkpad's focus on executive business users," she said. "But we are also seeing greater demand from small enterprises and individual users."

She said about 60 to 70 percent of corporate notebook sales come from China's 200 million small enterprises and individual business users.

Last week Lenovo launched its new "Thinkpad Edge" line during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The new Thinkpad line, previously driven exclusively by Intel chips, will be loaded with AMD microprocessors.

In addition to standard black, the new line will offer notebooks in a wider range of colors including glossy red and white.

"We have users who like our traditional Thinkpad format, but many younger users want more personalized products," Wang said.

The global economic slowdown has reduced IT spending from large corporate firms across the world, forcing companies including HP, Dell and Lenovo to look for new growth markets.

Last year Dell launched a marketing campaign specifically targeting small businesses in China.

Since acquiring the Thinkpad brand from IBM in 2005, Lenovo claims to have significantly reduced Thinkpad notebook prices. And in 2008, Lenovo launched the "ThinkPad SL Series" targeting medium-sized enterprises.

"In our experience, the launch of a new low-end product line has had no impact on our traditional users," said Wang. The SL series accounted for "less than half" of total Thinkpad sales in China, she said.

Monthly Thinkpad sales in the country grew to 260,000 units last year, nearly double 2008 sales figures, according to Wang.

According to industry experts, the number of small businesses worldwide will climb to 45 million this year, with the sector expected to consume nearly two-thirds of all notebook computers sold.

Notebooks are Lenovo's largest revenue generator, accounting for 63 percent of the company's total revenue as of September last year.

(China Daily January 13, 2010)