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Lenovo will use Chinese data to byte into Apple market, says Liu(Times of Oman Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BEIJING: Lenovo Group will use "better knowledge" of the Chinese market to win customers for its LePad tablet computer and take market share from competitors such as Apple, according to Chairman Liu Chuanzhi. Lenovo Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing said March 5 that the company plans to begin selling the LePad this month after Apple began sales of its iPad tablet in China in September. "When LePad is introduced, we obviously hope sales growth will grow very quickly," Liu said at a briefing yesterday held as part of the National People's Congress in Beijing. This year, LePad sales are unlikely to exceed those of the iPad, he said. Lenovo said last month it aims to be the market leader for tablets in China, predicting the devices will account for 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the global computer market over the next two years. The company is betting on the LePad and the LePhone smartphone to drive earnings as growth in China's PC market moderates. Lenovo last month reported a 25 per cent gain in fiscal third-quarter profit that exceeded analysts' estimates. Net income increased to $99.7 million, or 0.98 cent a share, in the three months ended on December 31, from $79.5 million, or 0.79 cent, a year earlier, Lenovo said. Profit was expected to be $86.1 million, according to the average of five analyst. Apple challenge Lenovo's profit this year will remain "quite high," Liu said at yesterday's briefing. The LePad is unlikely to challenge the iPad, based on the reception for LePhone, Jim Tang, a telecommunications analyst at Shenyin Wanguo Securities in Shanghai, said March 5. Lenovo set high expectations for LePhone, yet it has not been competitive with the iPhone or handsets running Google's Android system, Tang said. When Lenovo started selling LePhone in May, it projected sales of more than one million units in 12 months. The company said in February it sold 230,000 units last quarter. The LePhone is selling "very well," Liu said yesterday. The iPad line is the fastest-selling technology product in history, measured by revenue, said Tim Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies. Apple may sell 600,000 of the second version of the iPad in its debut this weekend, extending the device's lead in a crowding market. Lenovo's parent Legend Holdings aims to list shares in Hong Kong between 2014 and 2016 if the company reaches a target for 30 per cent annual profit growth over the next three years, Liu, who is also chairman of Legend, said. Lenovo plans to list A-shares in China, he said, without giving a timeframe. (c) 2011 Muscat Press and Publishing House SAOC Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |