Lenovo says it is doubling its R&D-related investments over the next three years in India as it increases its focus on the market to ensure that Lenovo rolls out products that adapt to the requirements of the ‘new normal’, where cloud-enabled digital services and solutions are delivered over electronic devices.
Amar Babu, president of Lenovo-APAC, said that phones and computers collect vast amounts of data that can be stored in the hybrid cloud, thanks to skyrocketing adoption of digital services.
“With a plethora of tools available on the Internet, enabled by artificial intelligence, analyzing information real time is a necessity in today’s world,” Babu said in a virtual tech conference.
“We realize today that it’s not about just devices. It’s about how we bring a range of solutions and services by tying these devices together. It’s the endeavour of Lenovo to bring this ‘pocket-to-cloud’ architecture, which will serve the unique needs of the Indian market,” he said.
Babu also said that the R&D-related investments will help the company develop its capabilities in the solutions and services space.
Lenovo said that it has also started exporting Motorola-branded smartphones from its Noida, Uttar Pradesh plant to select countries. Home-bred contract manufacturer Dixon Technologies is making smartphones for Motorola.
Lenovo works with Wingtech Technology for tablet manufacturing at the latter’s plant in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. It also has an in-house PC manufacturing plant, in Puducherry, which was recently expanded to include a third manufacturing line.
Lenovo has a capacity of 2 million across its PC products and 500,000 for tablets.
Shailendra Katyal, India managing director at Lenovo, said that the company shipped 6 million devices last year, most of which were made locally. “There was a manufacturing surge commensurate with the digital transformation in the post-pandemic world,” Katyal said.
Lenovo-owned Motorola is using India as a development and testing ground for its smart home products, a move aimed at growing its overall business beyond smartphones. It has a strategic alliance with Walmart-owned Flipkart Group to develop and sell smart home products like air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines and smart TVs in the country.
The company shifted focus away from volumes to profitability last year due to the brutal competition in the Indian smartphone market.
Lenovo Group is closely monitoring Motorola’s foray into new product categories and may replicate the same strategy in other markets.
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