One of the world’s biggest PC vendors is diving into gaming territory and it’s recruited one of gamers’ favorite peripherals brands to help it float. Lenovo and Razer have recently announced a major new partnership that will see them co-brand a range of Razer Edition Lenovo PCs, starting with the Y series of desktop towers that made their debut at IFA in September. The first prototype product of this collaboration is on show over at the Dreamhack Winter LAN party in Sweden today and the two companies have ambitions to extend their relationship into joint product development as well.
“Gaming is one area of the PC market that’s actually growing and for us, what’s also been exciting, is that it’s relatively stable.”
– Victor Rios, Lenovo Vice President and GM.
As the company’s vice president and general manager for workstation and gaming computers, he’s leading this new drive. Along with fellow PC makers Acer and Asus, Lenovo is making a big bet on gaming as a driver for renewed sales of high-end PCs that result in healthier profit margins. What’s more, partnering with Razer who have to date led the gaming peripherals market, will ensure that the new brand of gaming PCs will be held in high regard by all. However there is one dilemma regarding this issue, dedicated gamers more often than not build their own gaming rigs, something Rios has acknowledged.
Lenovo’s Razer Edition PCs will be about combining the convenience of not having to chase down every single component yourself with the astute design choices that only a seasoned gamer will make. What this results in will be a lack of software bloat or superfluous extras. focusing instead on great performance and reliability. Such is the plan, anyway. Razer and Lenovo also see a lot of potential in virtual reality applications as catalysts for purchases of more powerful PCs — which might bring a more casual consumer to the high-end PC market. Together, the two companies will try to capitalize on these trends by working jointly on developing new product categories as their collaboration deepens through 2016. Could we possibly be seeing a Razer themed VR headset?
The first officially announced PCs from this partnership will launch at CES 2016 in Las Vegas in January, to be followed by a gradual expansion as the year progresses. Razer isn’t tying itself to Lenovo in any exclusive way, but this is going to be the focus of its efforts for the foreseeable future. Furthermore while desktop PCs may be the initial focus, it is possible the relationship will branch into gaming laptops as well.
Source: The Verge
