Lenovo is to create a new company to chase Chinese rivals more aggressively in low cost smartphones and new smart devices such as wearables.
The Chinese firm has been associated with enterprise products, thanks to its purchase of IBM’s PC business, and until recently, struggled to make its mark in the mobile segment. However, in the past year it has taken the smartphone lead in its home market and will consolidate this, and add global reach, when it finalizes its acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google.
However, most of this activity has been focused on midrange and high end handsets, leaving the door open for challenges from compatriots like Xiaomi, which are starting from the low end of the device spectrum but starting to seize market share overall, and to expand internationally.
The new Lenovo company will have its own name and brand, undisclosed as yet, and will be operational from April 1 2015. Its CEO will be Chen Xudong, currently president of China and Asia-Pacific markets at Lenovo.
Although details are scarce so far, Lenovo says its new spin-off will focus on consumer mobile devices but also on creating a full experience and ecosystem spanning software platforms and applications.