While mobile phone sales continued to decline in the first four months of 2014, with 75% of smartphone sales being for devices priced under 200 euros
The entry of Lenovo - the world's leading personal computer manufacturer - may create new data in the Greek smartphone market, at a time when the mobile phone category as a whole is showing prolonged signs of fatigue, partly paying for the ongoing (and explosive in 2013) rise of tablets and 75% of "smart" phone sales are concentrated in the price category below 200 euros per device.
The mobile phone market in the first four months of 2014 declined in volume and value by approximately 15% (-8% for smartphones and -22% for feature phones), having closed 2013 at 414 million euros, with the value of smartphones reaching 360 million.
A change in the landscape is also observed in the proportion of mobile phone sales between telecommunications providers and retailers. Thus, while in 2013 the providers continued to have the overwhelming lead with 85% of sales, in the first four months of 2014 the merchants obtained 25%, with the estimate for the whole of 2014 closing at 68-32%.
Lenovo and Westnet are entering the mobile telephony market together, setting high goals, as they are looking forward to a 5-6% market share for the first half of their collaboration.
This specific exclusive collaboration in the smartphone segment is an evolution of the existing relationship between the two companies, which began a year ago in the mobile devices sector with the exclusive distribution of Lenovo tablets in the Greek market. The collaboration worked effectively – at least as both sides say – with Lenovo’s share of tablets, according to the latest IDC data, reaching 13.3% for the first quarter of 2014. The estimate for the entire year is that the tablet market will reach 650,000 units by the end of 2014, up from 413,000 in 2013.
It is worth noting that worldwide in the previous fiscal year Lenovo sold 59 million smartphones and Android tablets, compared to 55 million PCs, an element that confirms the high potential of “smart” portable devices.
“Lenovo’s mobile phones are coming to the Greek market next September and it is certain that they will meet all the needs of users who now demand high technological performance and high value for money from their mobile phones. Through our collaboration with Westnet, we expect to quickly achieve a very good position in the entire market and to gain shares in the mobile devices sector as well”, commented Michalis Oikonomakis, Lenovo General Manager for Greece and Cyprus, upon the announcement of the collaboration between the two companies.
“Westnet Distribution, with consistency and continuity in its business plan, is evolving, adapting to market data, implementing exclusive partnerships, expanding its clientele and product categories, targeting profitable markets. It is charting a strong growth path which is also reflected in the financial results of 2014. The collaboration with Lenovo, on the one hand, honors us and on the other hand, marks a new era which finds us reorganized and ready for new challenges. "The new Mobility division aims to capitalize on the part of our customers on the company's excellent relationship and cooperation with all retail chains and operators," said Christos Kalogerakis, CEO of Westnet Distribution, a member of the Panos Germanos group of companies.
Source: protothema.gr
