HP eyes small cities for growth

After a major slip in 2010, HP's consumer business has added market share in China, rising from 5 percent a year ago to about 7 percent in the last quarter.

Yi said the company aims to lift its market share in China to the same level as its global PC business, which was 15.7 percent in the first quarter, according to research firm IDC.

Global PC vendors have started looking for new businesses that could offset a decline in the PC sector.

HP invested in software and service businesses to achieve higher profit margins.

Meg Whitman, CEO of HP, said in Beijing on Tuesday her company is committed to building a stronger presence in China as the nation becomes the most important regional market for HP's various businesses.

"Our strategy is to provide solutions for the new style of IT that include cloud computing, security, big data, and mobility," said Whitman.

"We're the only company with the depth and breadth to address all the areas."

Lenovo is actively pushing its vision of the post-PC era by releasing enterprise servers, smartphones and next-generation TVs.

Dell Inc, the third-largest vendor, also speeded up the construction of its software unit as its hardware sector declines.