Lenovo to Sell $198 PC in China

Lenovo Group Ltd. is targeting lower-income consumers in China by offering a new PC with a suggested retail price of 1,499 renminbi (US$198).

The computer maker is also offering PCs for 1,999 renminbi, 2,499 renminbi, and 2,999, respectively, it announced Friday. All four are designed to make computer ownership available to 3 million new, rural users. The least expensive model includes a keyboard but is designed to be used with a television as its monitor.

Lenovo did not provide further details about the systems, such as the operating system or type of processor they would use.

The move came on the same day that Microsoft Corp. made its own thrust towards reaching more consumers in China by cutting the price of the simplified Chinese version of its Windows Vista operating system. Originally launched at 1,521 renminbi for the home version, Microsoft reduced the retail price to 499 renminbi. It also reduced the Home Premium version of Vista from 1,802 renminbi to 899 renminbi.

Based in China, Lenovo is the country's dominant PC maker. Last week it reported revenue of US$3.9 billion for its first fiscal quarter and a net profit of $67.8 million, more than 10 times the profit for the same period last year.

It did not say whether it planned to try to boost sales in other markets with the low-cost PCs.