Lenovo expects to become the top PC seller in the UAE by early next year.
The Chinese manufacturer usurped Hewlett-Packard to take the number one spot worldwide earlier this year, but has yet to achieve the feat in the Emirates.
It currently has more than a 15 per cent share of the UAE market, but needs between 17 per cent and 19 per cent to become the biggest player, according to Mohammed Hilili, the general manager of Lenovo Gulf.
“I believe that we will be able to do it here in the UAE by the first quarter of 2014,” he said.
With a market share of 9.3 per cent, it is currently only the third biggest seller in the Gulf. But upcoming figures are expected to show growth in double digits.
It is also making important headway to becoming the biggest PC seller in EMEA.
“In EMEA we want to do it by the first quarter of 2015,” he added.
The company has taken space at this year’s Gitex Shopper, an event it has participated in since the company’s inception in 2005, when it acquired IBM’s PC business. It is using the event as a platform for its worldwide launch of the A10, a new notebook.
“Gitex is becoming a hub in the region for any new technology and product launches,” said Mr Hilili.
“This is our biggest presence ever so far because we are seeing that the demand is much higher and the brand recognition is much higher than in the past,” he added.
Initial figures suggest sales growth of 30 to 35 per cent on the first day of Gitex Shopper this year compared with the same day at last year’s event.
“I think customers are more aware about Lenovo branding but also about the new offering,” said Mr Hilili.
“What I have seen also is that before customers [came] in looking for the best price possible. Today customers come in and they are ready to pay a higher price … for the value add that they are getting out of the product. And that’s why we are seeing a higher demand in our brands Yoga and the Flex more than the entry level,” he added.
Lenovo shipped 12.6 million units worldwide in the second quarter of this year in spite of an 11 per cent decline in the global PC market in the period.
gduncan@thenational.ae
