Lenovo may set up smartphone & tablet plant in India

Chinese elect: <g data-gr-id="38">ronics</g> major Lenovo is looking at the possibility of setting up a manufacturing unit for smartphones and tablets in India.

The company already has a computer manufacturing plant in Puducherry. “We are exploring the opportunity of setting up a manufacturing unit in the country,” Bhaskar <g data-gr-id="40">Choudhuri</g>, director (marketing) of Lenovo India said.

This is particularly because of the government’s impetus on ‘Make in India’ as well as the huge opportunity which country presents, he said.

Lenovo, which enjoys leadership positions in sales of laptops, PCs and tablets in India, is also planning to aggressively boost smartphone business in the country.

He said that the smartphone penetration in the country was only 30 <g data-gr-id="39">per cent</g>. “This shows that there is enough headroom for growth,” he said. Lenovo was particularly looking at the 4G/LTE enabled smartphones as the company had already launched few such products. “The response to the smartphones was stupendous”, he said.

“We believe that 4G/LTE will be the dominant technology in the years to come,” <g data-gr-id="43">Choudhuri</g> added. The company would also expand retail presence with the opening of more exclusive Lenovo stores, he said. Meanwhile, Lenovo aims to be among the top three smartphone players in the country in the next few quarters as the Chinese technology major expands its product portfolio and increases 

presence in the offline market.

“Globally, we are among the top three players and India is one of the most important markets for us. We don’t see any reason why we won’t be in the top three here as well,” Lenovo Smartphone worldwide Sales Executive Director Dillon Ye told reporters here. The company, along with Motorola, which it had acquired last year in a USD 2.9 billion deal, has a 5.6 <g data-gr-id="45">per cent</g> share of the global smartphone market and ranks third cumulatively, after Samsung and Apple in January-March quarter, as per research firm IDC.

In India, Lenovo (along with Motorola) did not figure in the top 5 tally as of October-December 2014 quarter.

“This will change in the coming quarters. You will see a drastic change once the latest numbers are announced,” Lenovo Smartphones Director India Sudhin Mathur said.

Besides, Lenovo today launched its new device ‘K3 Note’ in association with eCommerce firm Flipkart, priced at Rs 9,999.

“We have already sold about 1.1 million 4G smartphones through Flipkart in the last few months. We will continue to expand our range in the country. The focus will also be on expanding our offline presence,” Mathur added.