Why China’s Lenovo is changing the world’s most popular business laptop that has dominated the market for decades
“I have a third of the market, but two-thirds don’t buy ThinkPads. So I want to attract two-thirds of those two-thirds.” Butler opened in a conversation with the Indian era, outlining the strategy behind the company’s dual-track approach to its flagship business laptop radio and why the company’s new ThinkPad X9 X9 is approved.
New thinking board for young people who don’t know what is the iconic tracking point
Before digging into the details, Butler quickly clarified that the ThinkPad X9 does not mark the end of the traditional ThinkPad aesthetic. The X1 remains the flagship model for loyalists. The strategic division is designed to attract new customers who may discover classic ThinkPad features, such as TrackPoint, unfamiliar. The team leading the team to develop Lenovo’s commercial notebooks, including the iconic ThinkPad and Thembook Brands, said that while long-term ThinkPad users are worthy of long-term ThinkPad – signature elements that Thinkpad users are worthy of, these features may be a barrier for new buyers.
“When we talk about the ThinkPad brand that draws new customers to the business side, you know a lot of people are asking, I don’t know what the tracking point is.” If you look at the ThinkPad X9, you’ll find that it doesn’t look like a ThinkPad, Butler and Lenovo are very well versed in it, and he explained that they “wanted to create a new design that is a bit off from the traditional ThinkPad,” which should be in the face of changing user expectations, especially young workers from touch processing centers, especially young workers centered on touch tables.
But, Butler stressed that new immigrants will still benefit from ThinkPad’s famous keyboard quality.
New Aura for ThinkPads
This evolution of design is meanwhile Lenovo pushes its new Aura version lineup, which covers consumer yoga devices and business-centric ThinkPads (including the ThinkPad X9), or they like to call it the ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition. The AURA version represents two and a half years of co-engineering with Intel and is Lenovo’s broader advancement of the AI PC era, which Butler believes is already in progress. “We are in the era of AI PCs. It has begun,” he said, stressing that the hardware capabilities are now in place as the software continues to advance. Butler describes how Lenovo builds unique AI experiences outside of basic technologies such as AI, smart sharing, smart care and smart modes. “Inside Unison is your basic platform, but the faucets shared later are unique to the Aura version,” he noted. He explained how Lenovo uses the same underlying technology to explain how Lenovo distinguishes its products from other incoming AI PCs. Lenovo’s AI implementation method involves the collaborative work of multiple models. Butler mentioned: “Llama Three is the model we are now under AI. Currently running LLM, but we also have an adjacent model, PHI Three’s phi Three runs as a security checker.” Butler then highlighted how Lenovo extends the integration of AI into ground features, which he said is what sets the Aura Edition PC and other incoming AI PCs apart. “I think what we offer is that we are doing a series of rigorous testing to make sure that when we release and deploy the model it will give you the results you need, but also safe, private nature.” As ThinkPad continues to grow, Butler and his team are still focused on balancing innovation with the reliability that makes ThinkPad’s signature. “Part of the AURA experience is a simplified decision-maker journey,” Butler explained. The strategy seems clear: respect the past when designing customers who have not yet accepted the brand.
