The FINANCIAL — Morrisville PC maker Lenovo is launching its latest line-up of business computers on Monday. New ThinkPad Edge series will be featuring Advanced Micro Devices Inc microprocessors in the laptops.
Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has won a place in one of the best-known laptop personal-computer lines, the ThinkPad, according to The Wall Street Journal. Lenovo Group Ltd. of China acquired the well-known brand in 2005 as part of a deal to buy International Business Machines Corp.'s PC business. The company is adding two new models to its ThinkPad line that use AMD microprocessors.
Lenovo has used AMD chips in desktop PCs before, as the same source reports. But Lenovo and IBM both only used Intel Corp. chips in ThinkPads. Lenovo will continue to offer other ThinkPads that use Intel technology.
With its sleek new 13-, 14-, and 15-inch Edge models, Lenovo is taking another step beyond its traditional enterprise market, according to PC World. The new Edges' expanded multitouch touchpad, re-tooled keyboard, and colorful cases are features that might appeal to lots of consumers, too. But with the numbers of SMBs continuing to rise, Lenovo sees these businesses as a hefty enough market to warrant specially designed laptops.
Lenovo has redesigned Lenovo's infamous function keys for the Edge, according to the same source. Users will only need to use one finger to access multimedia and other functions, said Charles Sune, Lenovo's segment manager for ThinkPads, during a pre-briefing. Gone are the ThinkPad's traditional embedded number pad, along with arcane function keys such as System Request customarily used mostly by IT pros at large companies but unneeded either by consumers or most SMBs.
The announcement was made ahead of the annual Consumer Electronics Show being held this week in Las Vegas, Reuters reports. China-based Lenovo is the world's No. 4 PC maker. Its PC shipments jumped 18 percent year-over-year in the July-September period, according to industry tracker IDC. The company reported revenue for the same time period fell 5 percent to $4.1 billion.
Introduced in 1992 by IBM, and hailed as a forerunner in laptop design, more than 30 million ThinkPad units have been sold. Big Blue sold its PC division to Lenovo in 2005, according to the same source.
The new line, as well as other products Lenovo is unveiling today in Vegas, is an attempt to boost U.S. sales at a time when the overall PC market appears to be on the upswing, Newsobserver.com reports. Lenovo and other computer makers have struggled during the recession, but worldwide PC shipments – both desktops and portables – increased 2.3 percent in the third quarter, reversing three consecutive quarters of decline, according to market research firm IDC. Moreover, IDC is projecting that worldwide PC sales will rise 10.3 percent next year; U.S. sales are projected to rise 6 percent.
One way the company hopes to appeal to smaller businesses and consumers is by shaving the price. In a conference call with reporters, Charles Sune, ThinkPad's worldwide marketing manager, said it had done that without cutting crucial corners, according to the same source. "Our quality, reliability and durability remain consistent," Sune said. The ThinkPad Edge laptops include features such as spill-resistant keyboards and Lenovo's "Active Protection System" that protects hard drives from failure. One way Lenovo lowered prices was by offering models with AMD processors rather than Intel chips. Consumers who choose Intel chips will pay more. The 13-inch model with Intel chips, for example, will start at $799 – $250 more than the AMD version.
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