Lenovo has been selling its ThinkPad products to the higher-margin enterprise sector. Now, Lenovo 3000 desktop computers, starting at $350, and laptops starting at $599 will target small enterprises.

Lenovo, which acquired IBM's PC business in 2004, has incorporated IT tools into is new 3000 line usually used by large enterprises. Lenovo expects these convenience tools and its aggressive global advertising on Winter Olympics broadcasts to offer a "value proposition" for small enterprises. Lenovo will also be a major sponsor of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Lenovo 3000 models include 802.11 a/b/g wireless capability and desktop models that will for the first time offer microprocessors from both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. The J100 desktop PC includes a SiS 661 chip set that works with either Intel Pentium 4 or Celeron D processors. The J105 has an AMD Socket 754 board for either AMD Sempron or Athlon processors.

Lenovo is attempting to leverage its success in China, where it holds 26 percent of the market, to grab a bigger share of the global market for small-enterprise computing. It currently holds about a 15-percent share of that market, according to Craig Merrigan, vice president for strategy, market intelligence and design at Lenovo (Research Triangle Park, N.C.).