China's Luxury Laptop Pageant(2)

Xia dismisses the idea that the move is a prelude to an obsession with luxury products, and emphasizes the company’s devotion to products in all classes. Yi Xiaohui, general manager of notebook PC marketing department of Lenovo China, also says the leather-bound laptop has more to do with the company's image.

What’s worth noticing is that the machine is labeled with Lenovo’s logo, but not IBM’s, on its internal shell, which could be interpreted as a subtle celebration of the company’s success in taking over IBM’s desktop PC business.

According to Haier, the two series have been quite well received, with sales around 300 a month.

The virgin land of luxury PCs will only be coveted by more and more companies. According to a report released by Boston Consulting Group in October, there are two trends of consumption in today’s China, namely, “upgrade consumption”, and shopping in search for treasures. The second indicates that consumers are more willing to pay for specials. Reports from Earnest & Young say China will become the second biggest luxury consumer by 2015, with over 11.5 billion dollars spent on luxury goods per year.

Businesses have responded to the trend by designing products that are attractive enough for those luxury pursuers. But a high price doesn’t mean luxury-- they've learned that China's luxury laptop consumers are not just looking for high-powered machines, but also ones that are in some way unique.