Lenovo to Expand in West Africa as Smartphones Debut in #Nigeria Lenovo Group Ltd. (992), the world’s largest maker of personal computers, plans to expand its smartphone business in three west African countries this year as it builds on a surge in demand in Nigeria. The company will start selling models of data-enabled phones including the Vibe X and S930 in Nigeria starting in the first week of March, Graham Braum, Beijing-based Lenovo’s general manager for Africa, said in a Feb. 4 interview in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. The company may start sales in Ghana and Ivory Coast later in the year, he said. “Smartphones are fast becoming a primary platform for work, entertainment and social networking” in Nigeria, Braum said. Africa’s most populous nation with 170 million people is the next big market for Lenovo following a “successful” entrance in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, he said. Lenovo agreed to buy Google Inc.’s Motorola Mobility phone unit for $2.91 billion last month as it builds up its smartphone business to offset dwindling PC sales. The deal creates the world’s third-biggest smartphone vendor, behind Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., both of which already sell phones in Nigeria. Lenovo is assessing Ghana and Ivory Coast and hasn’t set a time for when it will begin to sell phones there, Braum said. “We have a road map in 2014 to move into countries like Ghana and Ivory Coast and in order to do that we are doing a lot of investigation in the background,” he said. The company wants to add more countries in the region in 2015, he said. Hope for Africa ***************** Like Comment Share
Posted on: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 04:04:37 +0000
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