BEIJING: Lenovo Group plans to challenge Xiaomi Corp. in the world’s largest Smartphone market by focusing more on online sales after demand from Web shoppers brought a successful return of its Motorola brand to China.
“We’re going face to face” with Xiaomi, Liu Jun, president of Lenovo’s mobile business group, said in an interview at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. “They have the advantage that they did a very god job in the online market. But Lenovo’s advantages are hardware, supply chain, and innovation.
” The relaunch of Motorola after a two year absence was “very successful,” Liu said. The sales start, just before China’s main holiday season, lifted the company to second position in handsets exceeding 3,000 Yuan ($480) at online shopping site JD.com, he said. The $2.9 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility from Google Inc. in October gave Lenovo an established global brand and a technology licensing agreement with Google to help boost Smartphone sales.
The acquisition vaulted Lenovo to third place in global Smartphone shipments, helping it compete at home and abroad with other China based Smartphone makers such as Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies Co.
The lower end version of the Moto X phone sold out on the first day after being only offered online, Liu said. Carriers are increasingly being replaced as sales channels by retail and especially Web sales in the country, Liu said. Still, Lenovo is seeking deals with operators in Europe to sell Motorola phones through their outlets.
