Lenovo Unveils Think-Brand Workstations

NEW YORK — Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. announced its first global push into the workstation market Tuesday, expanding its strategy to catch up to industry leaders Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc.

Lenovo, the world's No. 3 PC company, unveiled the ThinkStation S10 and D10, the first new Think-brand products since Lenovo bought IBM's personal computer business in 2005. That division included the ThinkPad notebook line.

The new Intel-powered workstations, designed for heavy graphics and data work, are aimed at professionals in fields such as engineering, computer-aided design and oil and gas exploration.

Lenovo, announcing its plans at a Manhattan news conference, intends to start selling the workstations online and through business partners in January.

While Lenovo dominates personal computer sales in Asia, it trails on the global stage. The company has focused on selling in emerging markets, particularly China and India, while lately trying to build its brand in the U.S.

Lenovo, formerly known as Legend, once sold a workstation exclusively in China, but the ThinkStations are its first international foray into the market, said Tom Tobul, the company's executive director for emerging products marketing.

The expansion is a good move for Lenovo as the company seeks to establish itself beyond Asia, said Roger Kay, president of the Endpoint Technologies Associates research firm.

"It's a reasonable extension of where they are now," he said. "It's a sign on the Lenovo side that they've begun to re-grow some of the limbs that were severed during the (IBM) spinoff."

Lenovo, which has made sports partnerships and sponsoring the Olympics major parts of its marketing strategy, said the National Basketball Association and the AT&T Williams Formula One car racing team are considering using the new workstations.

Lenovo last year became the NBA's official PC partner, a position formerly held by Dell.

The dual processor ThinkStation D10 will use the upcoming Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5400 series, while the S10 will use Intel Core 2 Extreme processors.

Lenovo executives touted the workstations as energy efficient and running both cool and quiet.

"They're going to compete on good looks and good manners," Kay said.

Pricing for the S10 will start at about $1,199, and the D10 at about $1,739.

On the Web:

Lenovo: www.lenovo.com