NEW DELHI: Chinese handset vendor Lenovo will launch three smartphones exclusively for the offline retail channel during this festive season as the company seeks to improve its presence in India’s highgrowth market.
“We’re now the No. 5 brand in India and are looking at improving that position as we await the third-quarter results. We’re confident of gaining 2 per cent share points in the third quarter,” Sudhin Mathur, director, smartphones, at Lenovo India, told ET. Lenovo’s focus is on the affordable segment of devices, which cost less than Rs 10,000 and account for 80-85 per cent of the market. Two of the three phones planned for the festive season launch will be priced in this category.
The company will introduce two 4G smartphones – the A6000 Shot, an upgrade of the A6000 Plus with an improved camera, at Rs 9,999, and the K3Note Music, an upgrade of the K3 Note, at Rs 12,999.
It will also launch the A1000, a 3G smartphone at Rs 4,999, targeting first-time users.
Mathur said these phones will be launched in general trade around Diwali. Lenovo claims to be the No. 1 brand in India’s 4G smartphone segment, having sold more than three million devices in this category so far.
The Chinese vendor competes with market leader Samsung Electronics and domestic companies Micromax Informatics, Intex and Lava in India. It had a 6 per cent share of the smartphone market in the second quarter of 2015 and larger rival Lava had 7 per cent, according to International Data Corporation.
Lenovo is expanding its service centre network and opening exclusive outlets for its Lenovo and Motorola brands.
