Lenovo to focus on domestic consumer market

With the demand for personal computing machines like laptops and notebooks increasing in the country, Lenovo plans to focus on the domestic consumer market in the present year.

As part of the plan, Lenovo plans to tie up with all leading electronic retail chains across the country to sell laptops and notebooks off the shelf.

"We now have enhanced presence in large format stores like Staples, eZone, Croma and Next. The aim is to target more number of consumers in the domestic market. We already have a strong presence in the enterprise market," said Lenovo India MD Amar Babu.

He said the company had tripled its exclusive stores since April 2006.

"In the multi-brand outlets (MBOs), we grew almost seven times in the last two years. Lenovo products are now available in 1000+ stores across the country," he added.

Lenovo has set up service centres in 15 cities. It plans to increase the number of service centres in metropolitan cities.

According to IDC, Lenovo occupies the third position as PC maker in the country "" from 6.3 per cent in first quarter of 2005 to 10.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2007. "We have confidently and successfully moved away from IBM's shadow. We will continue to work on the brand," Babu stated.

He pointed out that the company was committed to expanding its presence in the country to support its worldwide activities. In 2006, the company opened an innovation centre in Mumbai. In June 2007, it set up the company's global marketing hub in Bangalore.

In the same year, Lenovo also announced its second manufacturing plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh (2 million units per year). Its first unit in Pondicherry produces 1 million units per year.