Lenovo focusses on offline retail for growth: Plans to open 25-100 exclusive stores

Chinese smartphone maker Lenovo is looking to consolidate its position further in the Indian market. The company is planning to expand its offline retail to drive growth.

"We have grown from being No 31 in 2013 to being No 2 in 2016. We are focussed on bringing in differentiated products and offering premium experience to consumers," Lenovo MBG India Executive Director Sudhin Mathur.

Sudhin has recently taken over the post of managing director of Motorola Mobility as well.

"We will also invest in setting up exclusive stores that will give hands on experience for all phones, starting with pilots with large format retail stores..the next growth will come from offline," he said without sharing financial details.

"Online market will only grow till the point where it is now, so next growth will come from offline... if half of the sales comes from offline in two years from now, would be great," Mathur said.

According to research firm IDC, Samsung led the smartphone market with 24.8 per cent share, followed by Lenovo (along with Motorola) (8.9 per cent) and Micromax (8.8 per cent).

Regarding Motorola, Mathur said 'mods' will be a key feature of differentiation.'mods' allows users to set of accessories on the back of the device.

"We are working with various developers for future mods, some concepts of which include printer capability, VR mod, charger mod for powering other mods and the phone etc...We will be bringing out three to four mods every quarter, which will come at different and more affordable price points," he said.