Earlier this month, Lenovo made headlines for overtaking HP to become the world's top PC manufacturer. According to Gartner, the news means HP's streak of six years at the top has come to an end, though a similar IDC report says HP remains a leader.

Regardless of who you believe, it's clear that Lenovo and other computer manufacturers have made up ground on HP. Recent trends in PCs have led Lenovo to rethink its global strategy and China appears to feature with a prominent role. According to China Daily, HP believes the Chinese market will help the company reach US$7 billion in global profits next year and Ultrabooks are the key to making that happen. Wang Gang, vice-president of HP in China says HP believes Ultrabooks will become a critical part of HP's plan to reclaim its personal computer crown.

HP already has a fleet of Ultrabooks available including the Folio, Envy Spectre and Spectre XT. The Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 and Spectre XT TouchSmart, specifically, will be able to take full advantage of Windows 8 thanks to its touch-sensitive display. Though currently not available, the Spectre XT has already been favorably previewed.

According to the Hindustan Times, HP believes that both China and India will drive growth for the company in the future. HP's head of Asia-Pacific and Japan, Dion Weisler, said that HP wants to continue building its brand in the Asia-Pacific region, but primarily wans to focus its marketing efforts on China and India.

If HP hopes to ride Ultrabooks to success in China, the company has a lot of ground to make up. Lenovo holds 30 percent of the market in China and has done it by building dependable machines. HP has tried to counter by selling highly sophisticated machines, but in China price and reliability are often the deciding factor for many consumers.

With that said, the Ultrabook strategy could be the right one based on affordability alone. The new Envy TouchSmart is expected to be priced at US$799. The price could make the Envy favorable to the Chinese consumer compared with Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga that currently retails for US$999.