BEIJING, CHINA: Lenovo, the world's No. 4 PC brand, says it plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange when rules permit, opening an opportunity for the firm in one of the world's best performing stock markets.

The computer maker also expects its operations in mature markets such as Western Europe and the United States to return to profitability by March 2010, as tech demand there picks up with the easing of the global downturn.

The mainland listing move would make sense for Hong Kong-listed Lenovo, since it developed in China and is one of the country's best-known brands, with about a third of the market.

"I obviously would wish to list (in China) today," Wong Wai Ming, Lenovo's chief financial officer, said at the Reuters China Investment Summit.

"Knowing Lenovo's market share in China, it makes a lot of sense and we would follow that issue very closely. We need to look at ... the possible impact on our operations."

Lenovo cannot list in China in its current form as Beijing forbids overseas-headquartered companies from listing on the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges.

The PC maker's headquarters are in North Carolina, having moved there in 2006 after completing its purchase of IBM's laptop PC arm.

But Beijing is in the process of changing the rules to allow foreign-headquartered companies to list in China, prompting a flood of companies that do major business in the local market to say they would seek such a listing.

Hopes for 2010

Commenting on Lenovo's business prospects abroad, Wong said: "There is no reason for me to believe that we cannot return to a profit in mature markets by the end of the financial year (to March 31). We're working towards that."

Lenovo's global peers such as Dell have said they are betting on a strong replacement cycle from 2010 as companies replace PCs that are still running on older versions of Windows.

Lenovo's losses in the past three reporting quarters have primarily been due to its weakness in mature markets, and a recovery there would help the company return to profitability.

Many analysts and PC makers have been hopeful that Microsoft's launch of its next generation Windows 7 operating system will also help push up overall PC sales, but Wong said many companies remained sensitive to extra costs.

"Many CFOs ... will not increase capital spending just because the economy seems to be doing better now," he said.

With Nokia's impending launch of a low-cost netbook PC, Wong said he believed the PC and cellphone markets were in the process of converging, and Lenovo was watching the trend closely.

"I don't know what you want to call it, the phone or a phoneputer, but really you see the two (products) converging," he said.

Competitors such as Acer and Asustek have already launched smartphones, a move many analysts predict will likely be unsuccessful.

In early August, Lenovo reported its third straight quarterly loss, but exceeded market expectations thanks to China's massive stimulus package, stabilising consumer demand and a slew of cost-cutting measures.

Its shares are up about 50 per cent so far this year, compared with a roughly 35 per cent advance on the benchmark Hang Seng index.