Japanese firms must rev up their business strategies.

(From International Herald Tribune (Herald Asahi))

The IBM-Lenovo deal China's largest computer maker, Lenovo Group Ltd., has struck a deal with IBM Corp. to take over Big Blue's personal computer business. The deal reflects the rapidly changing dynamics in the industry as it allows the 20-year-old Chinese upstart to gobble up what was once the most sparkling icon of personal computing

IBM, the top dog in the computer industry, also forged ahead in making personal computers purely for business use. But increasingly fierce competition from newcomers stripped profit margins on personal computers, leaving Big Blue's PC unit bleeding red ink. Now indispensable …