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Intel and Lenovo Target SMEs with a Simple “Open
Sesame”
Intel and Alibaba.com, an English-language global
trade website based in China, announced a
partnership with Lenovo Group this week to
launch a PC designed to make e-commerce easier for
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China.
The desktop PCs, due out in September, will be
preloaded with Alibaba.com’s e-commerce applications
for SMEs. Intel and Alibaba.com announced their
original partnership in May but have been
searching for a manufacturing partner.
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E-business is not yet widespread in China. With
less than 1% of China’s
42
million SMEs conducting business online, there
is still sizable room for growth. In emerging
markets, an estimated 69% of the labor force works
in micro-, small- or medium-sized businesses making
SMEs a key market segment for ICT companies seeking
growth opportunities. Intel and Lenovo’s focus on
this market is a clear indicator of the industry’s
effort to better pursue this still amorphous
segment. To date, multinational corporations (MNCs)
have made limited product modifications to target
SMEs in developing countries. This three-way
partnership strategy - embedding e-commerce
applications into new hardware and pairing an MNC
solution with local content and brands - may be a
solid step towards tapping into China’s SME
treasure.
For other MNCs seeking to crack the SME code,
Lenovo’s new PC could help draw out a sub-segment of
China’s market, the most technologically savvy SMEs
interested in growing their business online. This
small, forward-thinking group of companies makes a
worthy beachhead target for nearly any technology
firm interested in capturing China’s growing markets.
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