XIAMEN, China: In a recent data released by industry research firm Gartner, it was reported that China’s Lenovo Group has taken the top spot from US computer giant Hewlett-Packard to become the world’s Number One PC maker in the third quarter of the year.

Now, if Lenovo can become a top-seller in the computer market, then it is not hard to see that the China-based computer giant can do the same in the mobile phone arena.

“Lenovo is Number One in desktop computers and Number One in corporate laptops,” said Kevin Hou, general manager for emerging markets at Lenovo Mobile at a recent Lenovo event here in Xiamen where Lenovo exclusively introduced three mobile phones to Philippine dealers and resellers on October 9.

“By next year, we want to be at least Number Two in the mobile phone race.”

“In China alone, we have 13.1 percent of the smartphone market, while we have 12.3 percent market share for tablets. Our PC Plus Four Screens strategy comprised of Smart TV, personal computers tablets and smartphone working in seamless connectivity,” said Hou.“We’ll have 48 phones in the market, including one Smart TV and 12 tablets, by the end of 2012.”

First to be introduced at the launch was the S560 - a phone that targets young people, since it was presented as a media-playing device or “music phone.” The smartphone included Dolby speakers as one of its main features, plus dual-SIM functionality. Aside from that, it has a 1GHz processor, a 4-inch IPS screen, and a long battery life that could last up to 50 hours of music playback, according to Lenovo.

The S560 is priced locally at P10,999.

Next is the P700i - an evolution of the Lenovo P700, which was launched mid of 2012.

This Android-powered smartphone still has a dual-SIM feature, plus 4-inch IPS screen and a faster dual-core processor. The OS is already Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), one of the latest versions of Android, which is used mostly by current smartphones. Priced at P10,999, Lenovo officials said that the P700i is a phone that professionals could use at work.

The Lenovo K860 on the other hand marks the entry of Lenovo in the high-end smartphone segment. The value proposition for this Android smartphone, however, is the price.

Equipped with a quad-core processor and large 5-inch display, the Lenovo K860 will be priced in the Philippines at P19,999.

More of the K860 in this week’s Digital Lifestyle.

Last August, Lenovo came out with a 5-inch “phablet” (phone/tablet) priced at only P14,999.

Lenovo’s aggressive marketing approach is setting a new level of price competition in the Philippine mobile phone market. And with the launch of the three new smartphones, Lenovo is banking on a larger share of the mobile phone market not only in the Philippines but also globally.

TECH TIMES