Lenovo lightens up for Softex exhibition

China's Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and other computer firms will present their latest products at the five-day Softex Computer Show in Taipei today.

This year's show features 120 domestic and overseas computer software and hardware companies, displaying their products in 660 booths.

The number of visitors this year is expected to be 350,000, about the same as last year, said Queenie Chang (張婷婷), a spokeswoman for the organizer, Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會).

Following the launch of its lightweight, 13.3-inch ThinkPad X300 earlier this month -- which targets high-end businesspeople -- Lenovo yesterday announced that it would seek to tap into the local consumer laptop market by releasing three IdeaPad series that incorporate innovative face recognition technology.

Compared with ThinkPad X300's price of NT$119,000 (US$4,000), Lenovo's three new IdeaPad series -- the Y510, Y410 and U110 -- are more affordable, with prices ranging between NT$29,900 and NT$46,900.

"We expect growing domestic consumption following the presidential election on Saturday," Ken Wong (黃建燴), general manager for Lenovo in Hong Kong and Taiwan, said yesterday at a product launch.

The Softex Computer Show runs until Monday.