Laptop computer sales in China jumped 22 percent year-on-year in the second quarter as Lenovo Group Ltd expanded its market share and hung on to its top spot in the market, an IT consulting firm said yesterday.

　　About 698,000 laptops were sold in China in the second quarter, achieving revenue of 7.91 billion yuan (US$975.3 million), a 12.1 percent increase from a year ago, according to the Beijing-based Analysys International.

　　Lenovo, which finished its merger with IBM's PC unit at the end of April, led the market in the period with a market share of 29.1 percent. Dell Inc was second with 14.3 percent, followed by Hewlett Packard Inc (9.3 percent) and Toshiba (8.7 percent), according to Analysys.

　　"In the quarter, Lenovo-branded sales jumped but IBM-brand laptop sales dropped," Analysys said in the report.

　　In the first quarter, Lenovo and IBM accounted for a combined 33.29 percent market share, Analysys reported.

　　According to its deal, Lenovo can continue producing IBM-brand laptops globally for five years. After that, the firm will have to revert to its namesake brand. Industry officials said consumers aren't choosing IBM as they are concerned that the brand's quality has been influenced after the merger.

　　"Foreign-brand companies still held more market share even though Lenovo expanded its share," Analysys said.

　　Among the top six laptop makers which represent 71 percent of the market, Chinese companies, including Lenovo and Founder, controlled 33.7 percent market share. Meanwhile, foreign brands - including Dell, HP, Toshiba and Samsung - held 37.2 percent.

　　Liu Jun, Lenovo-IBM's chief operating officer, said in an earlier interview that the company will focus on laptops and corporate client business in China in 2005. This will provide it higher profit compared with the desktop computer business.