Armed with a new marketing strategy, China-based computer manufacturer Lenovo launched its first consumer-oriented products in Indonesia on Wednesday to tap into the country's growing personal-computer market.
Lenovo's Indonesia country general manager, Soeparwan Soelaeman, said that by cracking the consumer computer market, Lenovo would be better able to compete with already established market players.
"We hope that by focusing on the consumer PC market, we can penetrate the market more effectively. With this strategy, we hope we can also increase our sales of IBM computers to corporate buyers," Soeparwan said at the official launch of the new Lenovo products.
After taking over the United States-based IBM's Personal Computing Division in May 2005, Lenovo has combined its own strategy, which focuses more on the consumer market, and IBM's legacy, which is focused more on the commercial market
Soeparwan said that the strategy of focusing on the consumer market has been successfully applied in India and China.
"Indonesia, with its 220 million people, is quite a big market and with this strategy, we hope we will be able to emulate our success in China and India," he explained.
According to figures from the International Data Corporation (IDC), an independent research institute, Indonesia's consumer PC market accounted for only 23 percent of the country's total PC market in the third quarter of this year.
Although the share of the consumer computer market is relatively small, it is growing rapidly, notching up 67 percent growth in the second quarter of this year.
Total PC sales in Indonesia are expected to reach 1.3 million units in 2006, an increase of about 30 percent from the one million units sold in 2005.
Lenovo's product manager, Rico Gunawan, said the newly launched computers consisted of Lenovo Q and H series products and Y300 and Y400 notebooks.
Designed to satisfy personal needs for entertainment, Rico said, the products offered numerous multimedia features, including music, television, movies and games, at prices ranging from US$439 to $1,100 for desktop computers, and from $700 to $2,000 for notebooks.
He added that in order to ensure customer satisfaction, the company had established 10 service centers in nine major cities around the country, including Jakarta, Surabaya (East Java), Bali and Balikpapan (East Kalimantan).
According to latest IDC figures, 35 percent of Indonesia's total PC market is accounted for by unbranded, locally assembled computers, followed by Hewlett Packard with about a 15 percent market share and Acer on 9 percent. Meanwhile, Acer controls 28 percent of the notebook market.
The IDC forecasts that by 2009, the size of the Indonesian PC market will amount to 2 million units, of which 20 percent will be notebooks. (09)
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