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Lenovo set for Apple and Samsung mobile wars
Mon, 4th Feb 2013
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Lenovo believes it is ready to compete in the mobile consumer sector, directly taking on rivals Apple and Samsung in the process.

The world's largest PC maker, who reported record revenue during the third fiscal quarter last year, believes they have outgrown the market as a consequence.

Posting a profit surge of US$205 million during the three-month period, the Chinese company showed an increase of 34% year-on-year.

And with gross profits passing the billion mark, to $1.1 billion, Lenovo feels the time is right to challenge the mobile industry's big guns.

"Despite the global economic slowdown, we have outgrown the market in all geographies with record sales," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO, Lenovo to China.org.

Yuanging believes the most importance plan of action for the company is to understand where Apple and Samsung dominate the market, aiming to increase its market through through mergers and acquisitions.

After selling nine million smartphones in China since November, Lenovo claims to hold a bigger market share than rivals ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies in the country.

"Lenovo's brand awareness in China's low-tier cities, which will see strong growth in the following years, will allow Lenovo to penetrate quickly in these areas," Wang said.

While the company will continue to be one of China's top smartphone vendors this year, the probability of them making a profit overseas is at this stage unlikely.

"Since Lenovo's smartphone business is starting to become profitable, it is allowing the company to invest more in product development, marketing and building distribution channels, which are key for it to build a sustainable business in the global smartphone industry," says Wang Jingwen, analyst, Canalys.

Can Lenovo break Apple and Samsung's mobile dominance? Tell us your thoughts below