The world’s fourth-biggest smartphone company, Lenovo Group, is likely to expand its partnership with Reliance Retail to distribute more of its affordable smartphones — Vibe — as the Chinese company hopes to deepen its presence in smaller towns and cities. The company feels that its phones would get a huge leg up once Reliance Jio launches its services.
“We need to test (the networks) because it needs a special software to enabled on to the phone. That is an ongoing process and we will be looking at different price tier,” Sudhin Mathur, director for smartphone business at Lenovo India told FE.
“Right now we are a premium ladder and the intent is to come down,’ He said.
Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries’ telecommunications unit Reliance Jio is expected to launch commercial 4G services later this year and offer high speed internet services on smartphones than currently available. The company’s another unit, Reliance Retail had formed a separate arm to distribute and sell 4G handsets of various companies including Lenovo and also its own brand called LYF. The move is aimed to increase the availability of devices that can support the services when it is launched.
Reliance Jio is testing its networks among its employees and is slated to launch for public subscription later this year.