China-based PC manufacturer Lenovo Group, Chinese e-commerce portal Alibaba, and international chip maker Intel jointly announced on July 2 a strategic partnership to develop a range of customized e-commerce PC for SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), China Daily reported.

The first product to roll out of the line will be a desktop model embedded with Alibaba's Winport platform, which is expected to facilitate SMEs' access to e-commerce business. This desktop model is scheduled to hit the market in September 2008 at the earliest. Lenovo will follow up this initiative with notebook models and peripheral accessories. However, the company declined to project the shipment volume of e-commerce PCs for 2008.

The three companies' strategic partnership is the fruition of Alibaba and Intel's Empowering China program initiated in May 2008. Other companies are welcome to join the program as well.