The smart phone market of Pakistan is about to shake up a bit. With the entry of devices by Lenovo, which is going to launch its smart phone brand in Pakistan this September, by penetrating the market through the ten devices that it introduced in an event held at local hotel on August 25th, 2014. Their portfolio is designed in such a way that it will suit people with different tastes and style, as well as budget, as their entry level phone is going to be priced at Rs. 8900.
The Head of Smartphone Business at Lenovo Middle East was quite vocal about the aim of the company at launch of the new portfolio. He said that Lenovo aims to capture the number three spot in Pakistan’s smart phone market, with in the first year of its launch, which is currently dominated by Samsung and Q-Mobile. What is to note here is that, at present, Lenovo holds the number three spot in the UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, after one year of its launch. What remains to be seen is whether it would be able to capture the Pakistani market the same way or not. But, by clearly stating what it aims to do, Lenovo has taken a step in the right direction. If stats are to be believed, then Lenovo, which is currently at number 4 in world wide smart phone market share, it seems as if the next target for Lenovo are Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc.
While commenting on the debut of Lenovo smartphones in Pakistan, Sharay Shams (Head of Smartphone Business at Lenovo Middle East and Africa) said, “Pakistan is proving to become a very competitive and important market in the smartphone landscape. With the recent expansion into 3G and 4G networks, and the development of the existing network infrastructure, there is a natural consumer need for smartphones. For the past year, we have been receiving a lot of questions about the smartphone launch date in Pakistan and we’re happy to finally be able to provide consumers with our flagship smartphones.” He further stated that “In Pakistan, recent research figures from the Pew Research Center indicate that smartphone penetration stands at only 3%. With the network optimization that’s taking place across the country, we expect this figure to rise significantly in the coming years, and Lenovo is well placed to nurture this growth with a wide range of smartphones.”
The first batch is all set to hit the Pakistani shelves in early September, and it includes the dual-SIM and quad-core S-series (S850 with its 5-inch HD display and all-glass design -priced at Rs.29,700; S860 with its 5.3-inch HD display and epic 4000mAh battery, delivering up to 24 hours’ talk time on 3G and 43 hours on 2G, plus 40 days’ active standby- priced at Rs.36,500, and the S650 with its 4.7-inch HD display and laser-etched, fabric-feel cover with a 3D-textured design) along with entry level, low-end A369, priced at just Rs. 8,900. The other models include the A328, A536, A606, S580 and S856, all of which are going to be launched in late September.
Another good news for Pakistani consumers was the announcement of the launch of the company’s highly anticipated flagship device, Vibe Z2 Pro, in Pakistan, around late September. The price of Vibe Z2 was not revealed during the event, but since its a high-end flagship and based on the specifications known (4G/LTE and FNC capabilities with Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 801 Quad-core 2.5GHz Krait processor, 6-inch 2560×1440 pixel touchscreen, with 490ppi, making it Lenovo’s highest resolution touchscreen ever, 16MP auto-focus rear-facing camera comes enhanced with Optical Anti-Shake technology for blur-free images, and a 5MP front-facing camera, coupled with a wide-angle 84 degree lens, to capture HQ Selfies), expect the price to be something around the 65,000 rupees mark.
Lenovo smartphones will be available at all major retailers and will be distributed in Pakistan through Tech Sirat who will also provide after sales support.
Some specific models of Lenovo’s smartphones will come equipped with the award winning SHAREit, which allows users to instantly share files, applications, contacts and pictures with up to five devices while being offline. Its a 40x faster technology than Bluetooth®.
With Lenovo overtaking Samsung in China as the number one smart phone maker, and at number four around the world, with the company vying for global leadership, its penetration in a market still open for Smart Phone manufacturers might prove fruitful.
We’ll have to wait and see whether that happens or not, specially with the Apple i6 around the corner and Samsung looking for S6 as well, the market is definitely going to heat up in competition. But for now, Lenovo has definitely arrived in Pakistan.
