Lenovo India, which currently holds close to 10% share in the Indian personal computer market, expects to becomes India?s largest player the coming months. Presently the company is placed fourth in India. Amar Babu, managing director, Lenovo India, tells FE?s Shreya Roy about the company?s India expansion plans and what he believes will drive growth.

How has Lenovo?s market share been growing in the Indian PC market? What growth are you expecting?

Lenovo India has witnessed a steady growth in market share in recent times. Our strategies have paid us good dividends. In sync with our global aim of becoming the No. 1 personal technology maker in the world in the next five years, we are expecting the same in India. We have been growing faster than the market in the last few quarters, and currently, Lenovo India has an overall market share of 9.2% and is No. four in the Indian PC market, as per IDC?s Q3 CY10 India PC Market Tracker report.

Lenovo India is currently No. 2 in the Enterprise segment and No. 3 in the consumer segment. We are aggressively gunning for the No. 1 position in both these segments in the coming months.

You mentioned that your strategies have been paying dividends. What has your strategy for India been?

India is one of the most significant emerging markets for Lenovo. Our ?Protect & Attack? corporate strategy ? of protecting our strengths in mature markets, segments and attacking opportunities in emerging markets, segments ? has helped us reap benefits.

What is Lenovo’s strategy for retail expansion in India? In which markets are you looking at expanding?

We are now rolling out Lenovo Exclusive Store (LES) Lites, a smaller version of our exclusive stores to expand our presence in tier 3, 4, 5 cities and towns. We plan to open approximately 100 LES Lites across India in key tier 3, 4, 5 cities by the end of 2010 and we plan to reach out to 150 untapped towns and cities by FY10-11. We will continue to strengthen our channel network, which will enable us to drive market expansion into key upcountry markets. In parallel, we will expand our product portfolio ? especially in the lower end of the price band. We will offer customers improved levels of service across more service centers in the country. Across India, Lenovo currently has over 120 Lenovo Exclusive Stores (LES), more than 225 Lenovo Multi-Brand Outlets (MBOs) and 17 Large Format Retail stores (LFR).

Can you elaborate on your plans for service network expansion?

We have close to 385 service centres across the country. We have identified some more locations in class B & C cities where we plan to get the service centres operational by end of December 2010.

You had said earlier this year that Lenovo would be looking at a product ramp up. What is the status of the plan? Are there any new products that you are looking at bringing in?

Lenovo has always been at the forefront in launching new, innovative products that cater to the 360 degree requirements of the discerning Indian consumer in a timely manner.

Yes, we are definitely lining up a slew of new products over the coming months ? and will share more details at an appropriate point in time.