Lenovo's US$199 PC targets China only

Despite its bigger push into the consumer space outside its home turf, Lenovo has no plans to sell its latest low-cost PC outside China, says a company spokesperson.

Geraldine Kan, program director of Lenovo's Asia-Pacific communications, told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview Monday that the company does not plan to expand the US$199 PC offering to the rest of its markets in the Asia-Pacific region, as it is "purely a China play".

The Chinese PC maker announced on Aug. 3 that it will sell a basic PC priced as low as US$199 later this year, targeting the rural market in China.

The latest model will consist of a processor and a keyboard, while using the customer's television set as a monitor.

While Lenovo's consumer PCs have been sold in the Chinese market for a long time, Kan noted, the Chinese giant's push outside its home turf began only in 2006. In November, the vendor launched a range of consumer products, namely the Lenovo Q and H series desktops, as well as the Y series notebooks for the Asean market.

According to Kan, the company's consumer focus in these new markets has allowed Lenovo to "reach broader demographics".

The Chinese company also plans to expand its focus to non-metro areas in Southeast Asia, she said. For instance, in Malaysia, Lenovo will not focus only on the country's capital city Kuala Lumpur, but also other cities such as Johor Bahru, Ipoh and Penang.

Last week, Lenovo jumped on the Linux bandwagon, announcing plans to start selling notebooks preloaded with Novell Suse Linux from the fourth quarter of this year, to both businesses and consumers.