“It is a battlefield in the smart phone segment in India. We are a late entrant but fighting it aggressively,” said Sudhin Mathur, Director - Smart phones, Lenovo India. “We have a strong name in the PC market. Focus is now to aggressively sell smart phones,” he told BusinessLine .

Lenovo’s CEO has evolved the PC+ strategy to offer consumers smart connected devices consisting of PC, tablet, smart phone and television. “We are adopting the same strategy in India,” he said.

“We have tripled our business in smart phones in the last two-and-a-half years, though our base is small. We are now among the top 10 brands in the smart phone segment,” he said.

China’s $39-billion Lenovo, the world’s largest PC manufacturer, has been selling smart phones in India with price ranging from ₹4,000 to ₹33,000. Thrust is to sell phones priced below ₹10,000 to target the younger generation which is the largest buyer of smart phones.

Every minute, nearly 150 smart phones are sold in India of which about 75 per cent are priced below ₹10,000.

Lenovo started as a premium player but now has devices across entry, middle and higher levels, he said.

Targeting youth

Lenovo feels its ‘trendy and powerful phones would help to woo the youth.’ For instance, A7000, its latest 4G-enabled smart phone, is the world’s first smart phone featuring Dolby Atmos technology.

This provides audio technology similar to a theatre experience. This is one of the features that will be liked by the youth, he said.

Priced at ₹8,999, the A7000 smart phone will be the company’s mass flagship product to be exclusively available on Flipkart in its first sale on April 15, he said.

While the top eight metros constitute nearly 35 per cent of the market for smart phones, there is tremendous growth in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

The online sale has enabled the company reach out to nearly 1,100 cities. Nearly one third of total smart phone sales happen over online, he said.

With Lenovo acquiring Motorola, Mathur feels the combined brands will be a ‘formidable’ force to beat in the phone segment in India. Motorola will continue to sell under its brand name, he said.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW