Lenovo is now aiming to compete with the likes of Nokia and Samsung in the budget smartphone segment in India as it plans to launch phones priced below Rs. 5,000. Moreover, the company targets to sell one million smartphones in the country this year.
“We are watching the space because we know there are people who are upgrading from feature phones to smartphones, and that is a big trend in emerging markets today,” Hindu Business Line quotes Nick Reynolds, Executive Director – Worldwide Product Marketing, Lenovo as saying.
Reynolds further said the company is considering to launch smartphone at various price points. He said the company will spend more money on advertising and marketing. Also, Lenovo will enter partnerships with channels such as Ingram, Advanced Computer and Redington to amp up presence in tier-II and tier-III cities.
Lenovo recently launched a slew of smartphones, including its flagship Intel-based phone, IdeaPhone K900. While the K900 is priced at Rs. 32,999, other new Lenovo phones range from Rs. 8,689 to Rs. 26,399.
The Indian budget smartphone market is already flooded with a range of phones from the likes of Samsung and Nokia. Moreover, the Indian handset companies such as Micromax, Lava and Karbonn have further intensified the competition. For Lenovo, dominating the Indian budget smartphone market currently seems to be a daunting task, but not impossible of course. With revenues from PC segment is already shrinking, Lenovo has to increasingly look to make up with higher smartphone sales.