Lenovo eyes bigger share in Philippine tablet market with new distributors

Lenovo recently announced the appointment of MSI-ECS Philippines, Open Communications, and Ingram Micro Asia, Ltd. through its sub-distributor, Net Essentials, as authorized distributors of Lenovo tablets in the Philippines, in a move aimed to boost the company’s growth in the PC Plus market which includes tablets, smartphones, and convertibles.

According to Nielsen, the country’s tablet take-up rate is expected to grow by 5% this year. This growth is driven by the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend that is becoming more prevalent among office workers. Lenovo, which hit the #1 spot in the local and global PC market last quarter, will be introducing a family of tablets to ride the BYOD trend among Filipino consumers. This includes the recently-launched seven-inch Android tablets Lenovo A1000 and Lenovo A3000.

Through the appointment of three new distributors for its tablets, Lenovo will be able to boost its tablets’ retail presence nationwide, and move closer to its goal of realizing its 10 million global tablet shipments for the fiscal year.

“In the past fiscal quarter, Lenovo’s combined sales of smartphones and tablets surpassed PC sales for the first time ever, demonstrating our acceleration as an emerging PC Plus leader and enabling us to reach our current standing as the third largest maker of smart connected devices globally. Through our partnership with MSI-ECS, Open Communications and Ingram Micro Asia, Ltd. through its sub-distributor Net Essentials, we believe that we will be able to strengthen our foothold in the local tablet market, and eventually cement our leadership in the PC Plus space,” said Michael Ngan, Country General Manager, Lenovo Philippines.

In FY 2013/14 Q1, Lenovo’s combined global tablets and smartphones sales reached 12.9 million, which exceeded the 12.6 million total PC sales. Lenovo’s tablet sales grew 74% year-on-year in FY12/13 and 23% year-on-year in the fourth quarter alone, reflecting Lenovo’s increasing global tablet market.

Under the agreement, MSI-ECS, Open Communications, and Ingram Micro Asia. Ltd. through Net Essentials will also provide after sales service for the company’s tablet offerings. The partners will be giving repair and maintenance support, to enhance the overall user experience.

Commenting about the partnership, Jonathan Dee, General Manager, Net Essentials, said, “Lenovo is continuously innovating new tablets in response to Filipinos’ desire for flexible, portable, and mobile devices. Our partnership is in tandem with the segment’s positive outlook. We hope to drive further growth in this segment by providing quality service and maintenance assistance.”

As it moves forward in the PC Plus era, Lenovo will continue to expand its distribution channels and retail presence to serve the Filipino PC Plus market’s IT requirements, in a period marked by anticipated growth.