Lenovo heads downstream

Chinese vendor to diversify from its roots with SME product and partner drive

Lenovo says its new raft of products will appeal to the SME sector

PC vendor Lenovo has set its sights on the SME sector this year, as part of wider plans to increase its growth within Western Europe.

Speaking at its partner conference in Paris, the vendor said its current market share and number of partners was “not sufficient for the size of business” it wants to be.

To rectify this, Lenovo revealed it has a raft of new products in the pipeline, priced to appeal to small business users, and would be looking to recruit partners to help market them.

David McQuarrie, vice president of SMB and consumer for Western Europe at Lenovo, explained: “We have a strong partner network to support our corporate clients and I want to make sure we have as strong a network in place for our SME and consumer customers.”

The firm has been hit by a “rapid decline” in the buying capacity of its large enterprise customers because of the recession, admitted McQuarrie, but is confident of a recovery in 2010.

“The [larger enterprise] market is predicted to remain flat to down, but I believe it will bounce back at some point this year,” added McQuarrie. “When it does, we will be there.”

Clive Longbottom, service director at market watcher Quocirca, said the vendor would need to do some serious work in order to succeed. “As sentiment in the enterprise moves away from Lenovo, it has to look elsewhere. SMB is the only place for it to go,” he said.

“It will be up against price-gouging vendors and will need to compete on price, function and gain a greater reach,” he explained.