Lenovo to take plunge into worldwide server market

PC maker Lenovo says it will enter the global server market later this month, shipping systems for small and medium-sized businesses.

The company's new ThinkServer computers will come in five different single and dual-processor configurations and will be available in both tower and rack designs starting September 30, according to Marc Godin, vice president and general manager of Lenovo's enterprise business unit.

Lenovo has previously sold servers in China under the SureServer brand, but now the company is breaking out of its home market for the first time, Godin said. "This is really Lenovo going after the worldwide server market," he said.

Lenovo is not bringing new technology to the table -- the ThinkServer hardware is licensed from IBM -- but the company thinks it can take advantage of its popular brand name to sell new hardware through its existing sales channels. Lenovo also makes the ThinkPad laptops and ThinkStation and ThinkCentre desktop computers.

In April, Lenovo set up a new group to sell the ThinkServer and ThinkStation workstations to corporate customers. That group, lead by Godin, now has close to 200 employees

Although the ThinkServer line is not designed for large enterprises, Godin says it will provide products to the largest part of the server market, currently dominated by HP and Dell. "It's not a complete line of products, but still this is a very significant offering."

The ThinkServers will start at US$749 and they will ship with software that allows customers to easily configure, update and monitor the performance of their computers.

The TS100 Tower and RS110 Rack servers will ship with either Intel Core 2 Duo or Xeon 3000 or 3200 processor, while the TD100 Tower, TD100x Tower or RD120 Rack servers will be available with either the Xeon 3000 or 5000 processors.

Lenovo also has six new monitors in the works.

Later this week, the company plans to introduce new ThinkVision monitors that will use 30 to 60 percent less energy than its pervious products. One model, the 24-inch L2440x Wide will be Lenovo's first white LED monitor. This technology is not only energy efficient, but it also does not include the mercury found in LCD panels.