Lenovo-Motorola intends to up the game to pip Samsung in the Indian smartphone market

NEW DELHI: Having pipped the long-standing No. 2 smartphone brand Micromax to grab the second slot in the Indian smartphone market, the Chinese player Lenovo-Motorola now intends to up the game for narrowing the gap with leader Samsung.

The company is betting on stronger offline presence and new models, including modular phone Moto Z, to grow its market share in the country. “We have only one player ahead of us now,” Sudhin Mathur, head of smartphone business at Lenovo India, told ET, referring to Samsung Electronics.

“We will not only maintain our share, but grow it,” he added. Lenovo-Motorola will focus on expanding its market share in the Rs 6,800-Rs 20,400, a segment that has grown faster in volumes than sub-Rs 6,800 this year. It expects Moto Z, the first modular phone, with features such as protruding camera, extra battery and larger speakers that can be snapped on the phone, to help it gain market share in the premium segment, where Apple and Samsung have a duopoly.

Mathur added that sales during Diwali grew 60% onmonth, and three times compared to the festive month last year. This will help boost the current quarter volume and value share growth, despite the impact of demonetisation.

Lenovo also intends to increase its retail store presence to 7,000 by March. The company said that it was still evaluating the single-brand retail licence for opening own stores.