Lenovo, which has its North American headquarters in Morrisville, is recalling 160,000 of its desktop PCs that were sold between May 2010 and January 2012.

The company has determined that the power supply ThinkCentre M70z and ThinkCentre M90z PCs can overheat, posing a fire hazard.

Lenovo has received reports of two fires that resulted in damage to the PCs worldwide.

The company recommends that owners immediately stop using the affected computers, and unplug the power cord. Only certain ThinkCentre M90z and M70z PCs sold in this timeframe are affected. The company says the affected systems can be identified by machine type and serial number.

For more information about the recall go here.

Lenovo and NEC officially launched their joint venture in Japan today.

The NEC Lenovo Japan Group, as the venture is called, will be Japan's largest PC provider. The two companies have a combined market share of nearly 25 percent in Japan.

Lenovo, which has a headquarters in Morrisville that employs about 1,625 employees, announced the joint venture earlier this year.

Lenovo as a 51 percent ownership stake in the joint venture.

The two have also reportedly talked about expanding the venture to include servers, to give NEC greater access to the Chinese market.

In a statement issued today, Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing, said: "We would like to stress again that we are fully committed to the Japanese market and we are determined to continue to lead the PC industry in Japan and expand this strategic alliance beyond the PC business."

Dell doesn't want to be outdone by rival Lenovo on the advertising front.

Dell plans to start an $80 million ad campaign this month, to help boost slowing sales of its personal computers, Bloomberg News reported.

Chinese PC maker Lenovo, which has a headquarters in Morrisville, started its own ad campaign last month, with an estimated cost of $100 million.

The campaigns even feature similar, dueling taglines.

PC maker Lenovo has teamed up with DoSomething.org to encourage teens to do their part to help make the world a better place -- with the help of two stars from the NBC comedy "Community."

In addition to fostering good deeds, it's a way for Lenovo -- which is going more aggressively after the consumer market -- to get its brand in front of teens. The No. 4 computer maker is based in China but has a headquarters in Morriville.

"Community" actors Alison Brie and Danny Pudi are spokespeople for the 11-day "Scavenger Hunt" that calls on teens to "save the world in 11 days."

Dell is done in Winston-Salem.

The company on Sunday finally stopped production at its factory that made desktop computers and opened with great fanfare in 2005.

Any further activity at the 750,000-square-foot plant would be “part of the exiting and shut-down work required,” Dell spokesman David Frink told the Winston-Salem Journal. He would not give a final closing date.

Dell first announced a year ago that it planned to shut the plant but repeatedly delayed the move to meet increasing demand. Dell announced on Sept. 10 that it would close the plant this month.

Personal computer maker Lenovo reported this morning that net income jumped 44 percent during its second quarter, driven by stronger sales in the U.S. and Europe.

The maker of Thinkpad laptops and other products is the latest technology company to get a boost from revived corporate tech spending.

“They have been simply the biggest market-share gainers this year,” Bhavtosh Vajpayee, who rates Lenovo shares “outperform” at CLSA Ltd. in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg News. Lenovo is “one of the biggest beneficiaries” as companies upgrade dated computers, he said.

Lenovo, which bought IBM's PC business in 2005, moved its headquarters to Morrisville, where it employs about 1,500 workers. 

Lenovo Group reported a $55 million quarterly profit, driven by rising sales of personal computers and other products in China and other emerging markets.

The results are an improvement from a year earlier when the company reported a $16 million loss, and are the latest indication that spending on technology continues to revive globally.

Still, the profit was weaker than analysts had expected, and Lenovo shares fell overnight in Hong Kong, Bloomberg News reported.

Its American depositary receipts, which are similar to common shares for foreign companies, fell 40 cents today to $12.03. The ADRs are down 2 percent this year.

Lenovo Group reported a $79.5 million third-quarter profit, bolstered by increasing PC sales in China and other emerging markets.

The Chinese company, which has one of its world headquarters in Morrisville, lost $96.7 million during the same period of 2008. Global sales rose 33 percent to $4.8 billion, driven by a 45 percent increase in China.

The figures suggest that tech spending, which weakened during the recession, is rebounding. Last night, Cisco Systems reported quarterly earnings that also reflected that trend.

Lenovo, which acquired IBM Corp.'s PC unit in 2005, said its global market share expanded to 9 percent, its highest to date.

"Our growth was driven by gains in almost all regions of the world, particularly China and other emerging markets," CEO Yang Yuanqing said in a conference call, the Associated Press reported.

Still, Yang cautioned that corporate spending was not expected to revive until at least the second half of 2010, which could weigh on revenues. He said Lenovo also faces pressure from rising component costs.

The company employs about 1,500 people in Morrisville.

Lenovo Group and other PC makers are targeting consumers in rural China, an untapped and fast-growing market, the Wall Street Journal reported this morning.

Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard and others see potential in that part of the world, spurred by a $586 billion government stimulus program that helps pay for PCs. They're also trying to offset slower sales in the U.S. and elsewhere by expanding in new markets.

The companies are aggressively marketing to customers in mostly poor rural China, the newspaper reported. Lenovo, for example, is using slogans such as "Buy a Lenovo PC, Be a Happy Bride" -- trying to encourage PCs as high-status wedding presents.

The company recently opened 700 retail stores in rural China.

Lenovo is a Chinese company that maintains a world headquarters in Morrisville. The company established a Triangle presence when it bought IBM's PC business in 2005.

Read the full Wall Street Journal story here.

Lenovo is cleaning out its warehouse.

The Chinese PC maker, which has a world headquarters in Morrisville, is having its first Triangle warehouse sale Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Lenovo says it will have hundreds of "deeply discounted" new and refurbished ThinkPad and IdeaPad laptops and ThinkCentre desktops on sale, including models that will go for less than $300. Monitors and computer accessories will also be available.

The sale will be at the auditorium of Building Three at Lenovo's Morrisville campus at 1017 Think Place, which is off of Perimeter Park Drive.