Lenovo bets big on personal computers

Lenovo’s Ngan

Lenovo chooses its battles wisely and the strategy has been working well.

In the Philippines, Lenovo has taken its fight to the personal computer arena.

Five years ago, Lenovo decided to lie low in the Philippine mobile phone business, not that it didn’t have a strong lineup of mobile phone offerings, as its Motorola phones had been doing well in major markets overseas.

It was just that the local market was highly price sensitive and competition had been getting tougher, especially with the entry of cheaper brands, mainly from China.

Thus the company decided to focus instead on and invest heavily in the PC business here, and the move has been paying dividends.

Lenovo PH country manager Michael Ngan says that from being nowhere near the Top 10 PC brands since it started in the country in 2005 up to five years ago, Lenovo is now a solid No. 2 in the local PC market (after market leader Acer).

Ngan, who has been with the company since 2005 and its GM since 2013, is convinced Lenovo PH made the right choice given the upbeat growth prospects of the Philippine PC market.

The rising popularity of PC gaming and e-sports, the increasing adoption of telecommuting and the ongoing shift to digital learning/education, spearheaded by the Department of Education (DepEd), are driving local growth in demand for PCs.

“The Philippines is already the fastest-growing PC market in the region. The industry last year hit the two-million mark (PC units sold) and the numbers will continue to grow,” Ngan said.

Of this sales figure, Lenovo accounts for at least 15 percent.

Getting the PC brand to where it is now required the company and its people to put in a lot of hard work and continuously innovate, especially in the area of customer service.

“Lenovo is investing a lot in enhancing customer experience by coming out with services products,” Ngan says.

Recently, it launched Premier Support, which offers direct access to skilled and experienced Lenovo technicians for immediate hardware and software assistance.

“It’s like a prestige card. If you buy a laptop, we will sell you a Premier Support package. This is on top of your usual warranty. Enrollment in Premier Support gives you a special hotline number attended to by a technical support agent who can immediately respond to your concerns. You do away with the usual call center treatment that just gets your concerns logged,” Ngan says.

If concerns are hardware-related, an engineer will be dispatched to customer and this service can be tapped up to 9 p.m.

Lenovo is the first in the industry to make available to its customers accidental damage protection (ADP) or an insurance for PCs.

“If you buy a laptop and warranty is for one year, the insurance is also good for one year. The cost of repairing LED is 80 to 90 percent of the cost of the laptop. If it breaks, replacement is not covered by warranty but if you have ADP, the LED is automatically repaired or replaced for free. Damaged motherboards are also replaced, no questions asked. But there are exclusions and these are cosmetic damages. Damages that will render your laptop unusable qualify under ADP,” he explains.

Lenovo is also selling its asset tagging services.

“This will save companies the time they usually spend on tagging and encoding each and every computer they have. For a nominal fee, we take care of the asset tagging job. We give them factory default stickers and USB with all the data necessary,” Ngan says.

To reach out to customers, Lenovo has been investing heavily in concept stores in strategic parts of the country, at least in key cities such as Metro Manila, Legazpi, Baguio, Cebu (two stores), Iloilo, Davao and Tacloban. It is also set to put up the first exclusive Lenovo service center.

Growth in demand, according to Ngan, is coming from both corporations and individual end-users.

In recent quarters, the fastest growth in the Philippines was registered by the government, which has been spending considerably on information and communication technology. DepEd also provides a big boost given its programs that promote technology adoption not only in private schools but in public schools, as well.

“Recently, the DepEd has been one of our major buyers of laptop devices for schools and they’ve also been implementing several ICT infrastructure programs that aim to improve connectivity in schools in rural areas,” Ngan says.

This initiative, he adds, is a welcome development as it will definitely further increase PC penetration in the country.
He believes that as internet services and coverage improve and more people realize the potential of internet for education, work, business and social interact, demand for PCs in the country will grow even faster.

For Lenovo’s part, it is working hard to make available the best technology at the most affordable price possible and services that will enhance its customers’ experience.