China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] has taken sales of its low-price Honor brand of smartphones to 20 million from 1 million in just one year, hitting pay dirt with the disruptive online-only strategy it copied from smaller upstart Xiaomi Inc.
LEVONO will also get into the game in April 2015. A bit late, but better late than never.
it's better to "disrupt your own business than let others disrupt it for you"
Maybe Samsung can create a similar subsidiary to sell smartphone online only.
The unit, which will be called Shenqi, could be worth “a couple of billion dollars” after it begins selling smartphones and Internet-connected household devices online under its own brand in April, Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing said today in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Beijing. Yang declined to give a timeframe for any fundraising moves or name specific investors.
The Lenovo startup would use a direct-to-consumer, Internet-based business model similar to that which propelled closely held Xiaomi Corp. to the top of the China smartphone market and third-place globally in the third quarter last year. The Shenqi brand and online store would allow the company to reach consumers beyond the mobile phone carriers and retailers who sell Lenovo-branded smartphones and computers, Yang said.
“We want to build a pure Internet-oriented model,” he said. “If we do this kind of model within the current Lenovo, there is a lot of conflict with existing channels and carrier partners. With a different team mechanism, we can do whatever we want.”
