Lenovo, the world’s largest PC vendor in terms of shipments, has been struggling with its mobile business since its acquisition of Motorola Mobility. Where will the PC giant find a breakthrough in the highly saturated smartphone market?
Lenovo (00992:HKEX) recently released a gaming phone under its Legion brand, which packs high-end specs, including the latest and game function-focused Snapdragon chip. Besides the chip, aspects of thermal, battery and even camera are designed according to gamers' needs. Choosing products to be featured as 'game phones' is a smart play, as China’s top vendors are all concentrated in areas of photography and outlook design. However, it remains unclear if the market segment is big enough to drive sales.
The latest gaming phone is going to arrive in China, some of the areas of the Asia Pacific and EMEA markets, and Latin America. As the tension is growing with the US, the phone is not going to that market.
As the company revealed in May 2020, Lenovo’s mobile business has not yet realized a profit. In the fiscal year of 19/20, the segment brought USD 43 million loss. Though the improvement is significant, as last year’s loss was approximately three times the previous year's, Lenovo’s mobile business is still in an awkward situation –trying to push out ambitious new products in a niche market, in a sector shaken by volatility and competition.