The People’s Republic of Computers is ready to invade the USA. At least, that’s the spin being put on the $1.75 billion IBM-Lenovo deal by many mainstream journalists concerned by the acquisition of IBM’s storied PC unit by a relatively unknown Chinese competitor. Given IBM’s role as a creator and developer of the modern PC business and the strength and popularity of models such as the IBM ThinkPad, it is natural that some might view the company’s move to sell its PC unit as yet another victory for globalization and a sign that the U.S. tech industry continues to be mired in a permanent malaise of low single-digit growth rates.

For IBM PC users around the world, it certainly feels like an end of an era. Perhaps it is — but it is also the beginning of a new era in which U.S. tech companies are no longer content to watch the growing commoditization of entire industries — they are moving aggressively into higher-margin businesses such as IT services and scrapping entire product lines that are not growing fast enough.

As for concerns about declining global competitiveness — the IBM ThinkPad still boasts one of the great brands in the tech world, proving that IBM still possesses a fearsome R&D capability. Since its launch nearly 12 years ago, the ThinkPad has consistently been at the forefront of innovations such as color displays, 14-inch displays and removable hard drives. Lenovo, as the New York Times pointed out, is not after IBM’s PC business as much as it is after the IBM brand, which is associated with quality and innovation and all the good things that comprise competitiveness. While Lenovo is the world’s 8th largest PC manufacturer and the fastest-growing PC maker in the world, it is also realized that it would be unable to penetrate the global PC market without the cachet of a U.S. brand.

At a time when many tech companies are merely looking to survive the downward pressure on prices caused by globalization, IBM is instead making a bet that it can continue to migrate into higher-margin business lines by focusing more on services, less on machines. If anything, IBM no longer stands for International Business Machines — it now stands for Increasingly Bigger Margins. IBM is not the only major PC maker considering new strategic directions. Anyone notice that Apple is now becoming almost as well-known for its iPods as for its computers?

When IBM unveiled the ThinkPad marketing campaign using the tagline “Where do you do your best thinking?” it was a way of encouraging customers to consider new ways of using the ThinkPad in everyday business. Years later, that same marketing tagline may offer an unintended insight into how U.S. tech giants such as IBM will survive and prosper during the next round of globalization. The power of the “Think” brand is a continual reminder that when it comes to innovation and know-how, the world still does its best thinking in the U.S.

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Note: My first PC was an IBM ThinkPad.