Computer giant Lenovo aims to expand its lead in the commercial computer market, with a focus on smaller businesses expected to help win customers.

 

Xia Li, vice-president of Lenovo Group, said in an interview in Beijing yesterday that the company which already controls 30 percent of China's computer market faces a bottleneck. Lenovo needs to generate more demand and increase its share, amid intense competition from international giants Dell and HP, as well as local rivals Founder and Tsinghua Tongfang.

 

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become a key target growth area for the company.

 

According to the domestic market research firm CCID Consulting, 4.26 million desktop computers were sold in the first quarter of this year, 11.87 percent higher than the same period of 2005.

 

While demand from the education sector and home consumers was sluggish, SMEs, as well as government agencies boosted growth.

 

There are over 40 million SMEs in China, but almost 70 percent of them do not have computers or their information technology systems are very poor.

 

Lenovo's Xia believes large businesses buy around four times as many computers than SMEs. But the smaller companies are due to pull level with big businesses, making them a target no computer maker can afford to lose sight of.

 

"If we can provide helpful solutions for SMEs, we are no longer just a computer maker and do not have to compete in price alone," said Xia.

 

Lenovo yesterday launched a new generation of desktop computers, its Yangtian series.

 

Xia said Lenovo aims to control 80 percent of the SME market, and Yangtian computers are a key to breaking into it.

 

In the past fiscal year, Lenovo sold 1 million Yangtian computers, and its commercial computers, including Yangtian and Thinkcenter, took 34 percent of the SME desktop market.

 

Xia's goal is to sell 1.5 million units this fiscal year, with the Yangtian brand accounting for about 40 percent of sales.

 

One concern for SMEs is that a computer is often shared by several people, making it difficult to guarantee information security. In response, one feature of Yangtian computers is that every user can keep their information private with a personal USB key.

 

A lack of professional maintenance staff is another problem, but Yangtian computers allow managers to monitor all devices in the office with another USB key, which has a Bluetooth wireless function.

 

They can also scan and kill viruses at the touch of a button.

 

Lenovo's huge national network is another factor that the company is relying on to develop its share of the SME market.

 

The computer giant has more than 2,000 partners and service centers in over 1,000 cities, while its sales teams visit county and town markets, while other computer firms only reach city-level markets.

 

(China Daily July 12, 2006)