Made mistakes, will bounce back: Lenovo CEO
Bengaluru, Aug 2 : Admitting that Lenovo made some "mistakes" in the smartphones business in India, company CEO Yang Yuanqing on Thursday vowed to bounce back by launching right products for the India market under both its Lenovo and Motorola brand.
"India is a very important market for us. We have room for improvements in the smartphones business," Yuanqing said while participating in a roundtable conference, along with other members of the Lenovo Executive Council, which is the highest decision making body of the company.
"Overall, our target is to generate revenue of up to $6 billion in the next five years from India," Yuanqing said, adding the company is focusing on scaling all verticals of its businesses including the personal computer (PC) and smart devices segment that includes tablets, and data centre business, besides the smartphones segment.
While Lenovo's PC and tablets business have continued to post robust growth in India over the past few years, its market share in the smartphones business has seen a decline in the 2017-2018 financial year, coming down to about six per cent, from nine per cent in the previous financial year, the company said, citing data from the International Data Corp (IDC).
"In the PC segment, we grew by 43 per cent while the market grew by just five per cent and in Tablets segment, we were no 1," Rahul Agarwal, Managing Director and CEO, Lenovo India, said.
"The dual brand strategy of rolling out smartphones under both the Lenovo and Motorola brand has not affected us adversely. We will continue to revamp product portfolios under both the brands. The two brands can be complimentary," Yuanqing said, adding the company plans to target the premium segment with the Motorola brand and the affordable and entry segments mostly through the Lenovo brand.
He added that where the company did not do too well in the past year was on its service strategies and in appealing consumers from more places within the country.
"Going ahead, we will have different product portfolios and cost structures for online and offline distribution channels," the Lenovo CEO added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
