Chinese smartphone makers eye bigger share of Mideast market (page 2 of 2)

Lenovo smartphones have only been available since Q2 but have already achieved nearly 15% of all smartphone sales within China. According to TrendForce Samsung is the current leader with 15.5%.

Despite that momentum, Gianfranco Lanci, Lenovo's EMEA President was reticent to share too much about the timeline for Lenovo's unveiling of the devices in the Middle East, when speaking to a panel of journalists in Dubai this month.

"We want to make sure that we're good in China and then we'll continue to address the market elsewhere," said Lanci. "The Middle East is for sure a consideration, but probably following Africa because of the way the market is there."
Lanci explains that smartphones are a very different business to PCs, with 'much more investment in terms of localisation and software integration', hence needing more time.

"I think it's a little bit early to say when we'll go into phase two [releasing smartphones across Mena] but for sure by the end of next year. We need to complete the analysis to find out the next steps to take," he continued.

With current favourites from Apple, Samsung and various Blackberry models having sat on top of the pile for so long we can only speculate how these Chinese newcomers will upset the current status quo. A greater level of choice, albeit possibly overwhelming, should only be good for consumers, maintaining the relentless increases in processing power and continuing to spark fresh innovation.