Lenovo throws arms and legs around SMBs

Plans to dish up SL series to pump up sales

By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Posted in Small Biz, 24th June 2008 11:02 GMT

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Lenovo yesterday revealed plans to launch a new Thinkpad laptop line that will come loaded with features and support services pitched towards the small and medium-sized biz market.

The SL series will be priced from $699 to $1,199 in the US. The laptops will carry online backup services – the first of the kind for the Thinkpad line – and Absolute Software’s LoJack technology that helps track down stolen notebooks, the firm said according to several reports.

Lenovo has built additional security into the new SL series including the company’s own ThinkVantage hardware and software that provides security and support tools. There’s also Active Protection System, which protects data stored on a laptop’s hard drive.

The Beijing, China-based firm, which is the world’s fourth biggest PC maker behind Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Acer, said it hoped to scoop up biz customers with up to 99 employees which don’t have their own in-house IT support.

It’s hardly surprising to see Lenovo punting laptops to the increasingly lucrative SMB market, particularly in Europe, China and the US as it attempts to fill its piggy bank with more loot.

Just last month the company, which purchased the PC division of IBM in 2005, undershot analyst forecasts on Wall Street, citing sluggish laptop sales in the economically depressed US.

Lenovo, which has yet to dish up hardware specifics about the new range, plans to officially announce the laptops in the next few weeks. ®

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