Some analysts are saying Lenovo and Big Blue's broad-based, strategic alliance could put more pressure on the rest of the PC industry. But major rivals such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell, have shrugged off those concerns. They say Lenovo's PC share in the global market will rise from 6 to 8 percent after the deal.

An HP official in Shanghai seemed confident, and even gave Lenovo some advice. Zeng Jiabao, vice president of HPPC China, said, "HP's PC business accounted for 15 percent of the global market share in the third quarter this year. This is larger then the world’s third, fourth, and fifth PC makers' shares combined. So the Lenovo-IBM deal won't have much impact on our business."

"As Lenovo develops its business in the global market, it should note that different countries have different laws and market demands. It should carefully study the characteristics of each country."

China's largest computer manufacturer, Lenovo, has officially announced a one and a quarter billion dollar deal to buy the Big Blue's personal computer business.

The agreement states that the deal will include IBM's PC desktop and notebook computer lines. Lenovo will offer 600 million US dollars in cash and 650 million in shares. The transaction is expected to be completed before the 2nd quarter of next year. The deal will make Lenovo the world's third largest PC maker, behind Dell and HP.

(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2004)