In a study of how Chinese Internet users discuss notebook computers online, Shanghai-based Internet Word of Mouth research firm CIC says Lenovo and ThinkPad dominate manufacturer buzz.

Lenovo was the most discussed manufacturer (33.9% of total brand and product posts), but ThinkPad fans also present a challenge for Lenovo to maintain credibility while balancing innovation. Dell Inspiron 1420 launch and its color choice made it the most buzzed Dell model (11% of total Dell posts), and Dell used its Chinese blog to communicate with customers disappointed with shipment delays.

The systematic analysis used in this study was based on 1,204,117 Internet message board postings from mainland China related to notebook computers written by 160,926 unique usernames from July 1 to September 30, 2007 covering 739 notebook computer models, 71 series brands and 27 notebook manufacturers. The messages were mined using CIC's data collection and Chinese text mining tools and methodology covering 395 sub-attributes from 10 categorized attributes.

The latest CNNIC report on China's Internet in shows there are 210 million netizens in China, an increase of 56% year on year. According to CNNIC, 35.5% of netizens use BBS on a regular basis, and 23.5% use blogs.

CIC is an IWOM research and consulting firm in China. CIC helps its clients make sense of the buzz found on Chinese blogs, BBS, and other IWOM channels using proprietary data collection and text mining technology developed specifically for the Chinese language.