Lenovo To Sell ThinkPads Via Office DepotLenovo To Sell ThinkPads Via Office Depot

Lenovo, making good on a strategy to enter the U.S. retail market, has reached a deal to begin selling some ThinkPads through Office Depot.

The Purchase, N.Y.-based PC maker, which bought the former IBM PC properties earlier this year, has agreed to distribute systems including the ThinkPad Z60t and ThinkPad T43 to Office Depot, which is based in Delray Beach, Fla. The Z60t is a titanium-encased widescreen unit while the T43 includes an integrated fingerprint reader.

Office Depot already sells HP, Compaq and Toshiba notebooks. The company's rollout of ThinkPads will start Nov. 6, in time for the holiday selling season, the companies said in an announcement.

While IBM made a strategic decision several years ago to ignore the consumer retail shelves, Lenovo has longstanding experience in that segment and its executives said part of their strategy after the IBM deal would be to create a new, consumer business.

In a statement, Lenovo Chief Marketing Officer Deepak Advani said, "Small business customers appreciate the convenience of Office Depot stores and will now be able to experience for themselves" new technologies from Lenovo.

Office Depot maintains 1,000 retail outlets in North America.