Lenovo is becoming a household brand when it comes to personal computers.  In 2012, the company managed to unseat rivals HP and Dell, taking the number one spot for PC manufacturing.  But as Lenovo’s international fame grows, so does its need to expand its product base.  While Lenovo has a good handle on the lower-end markets, the prize to beat is Apple.

Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing announced that effective April first, the company will be split into two groups: Lenovo Business Group (LBG) and Think Business Group (TBG), as he perceives that the Lenovo brand is doing well in the mainstream and low-end markets and bets that the Think brand is their best bet in dominating the high-end market dominated by Apple.

LBG led by Senior Vice President of Mobile Internet Digital Home Liu Jun who will focus on mainstream consumer and business desktops, laptops, and tablets, as well as smartphones and smart TVs while TBG will be led by Senior Vice President of Product Group Dr. Peter Hortensius who will aim to better establish the business-friendly Think brand to consumers while they try and stay ahead of the competition.

IBM introduced the ThinkPad line of laptops on 1992 but the inspiration for the brand came decades before, from Thomas John Watson, Sr., the chairman and CEO of IBM in the 1920s.  Watson introduced “THINK” as IBM’s slogan and for several years, and the company distributed small notepads with the word “THINK” emblazoned on the leatherette cover to customers and employees.  IBM employee Denny Wainwright was the one who suggested the name “ThinkPad” for the line of laptops, who at the time, had the famous “THINK” notepad in his pocket.

In 2005, Lenovo took interest in IBM’s personal computer business and purchased it.  The ThinkPad came with the acquisition of the business and the rest, as they say, was history.

Now that Lenovo is shifting strategies, it’s clear they’re looking to put rivals, especially Apple, on alert.  The mobile device sector is another area of interest for Lenovo when it comes to beating out Apple in China, a rivalry we discussed in detail in an earlier article (read here).