Lenovo releases cheaper smartphone

Lenovo Group Ltd., China's largest personal computer maker by market share, said Wednesday that it has released a cheaper smartphone in a move to penetrate the country's booming mobile Internet market. Many global electronics makers have been ramping up their efforts to grab a share of the emerging smartphone market in the world's most populous country. Out of some 900 million mobile phone users, 300 million people are currently estimated to use the Internet on their mobile phones. Lenovo launched this week its second smartphone, the A60, which has a 3.5-inch touch screen and uses the Android 2.3 operating system, priced at 959 yuan (US$149). The new phone is tailor-made for China's second-largest telecom company China Unicom, which is also the official partner of Apple's iPhone. In May last year, the company launched its 2,899-yuan LePhone to compete with Apple's 4,999-yuan iPhone 4. Lenovo sold about 145,000 units in China, grabbing a 10 percent share of the middle and high-end smartphone market. Lenovo aims to double its smartphone sales on its own home turf, where it is already the top-selling PC vendor, and raise its tablet market share to 20 percent. The No. 3 personal computer maker in the world said it will sell its smartphones in other countries once it succeeds in winning the hearts of Chinese consumers.