A huge opportunity awaits Bangladesh
Lenovo top official tells The Independent
Sharif Ahmed
Global technology company Lenovo has become a household name and a business partner in many areas. The company has grown enormously since the acquisition of IBMs ThinkPad division.
Recently, Rajesh Thadani, the executive director of the Consumer and E-commerce department of Lenovo India, shared the business policies, global market share, and market plans of Lenovo in Bangladesh in an interview to The Independent. Here are some excerpts:
The Independent: What are Lenovos plans for the Bangladeshi market?
Rajesh Thadani: Bangladesh is an important market for Lenovo. We entered Bangladesh four years ago and have grown tremendously since then. Last year, we saw a strong growth in revenues, with a 124 per cent YOY (year-on-year) increase. This figure indicates high growth prospects of Lenovo in the Bangladeshi market.
Lenovo began as a major manufacturing company in the personal computer (PC) space. Now, the company has diversified its products in different categories, such as tablets, smartphones, workstations, servers, electronic storage devices, IT management software, and smart television sets.
Since 2013, Lenovo has been one of the worlds largest personal computer vendors in terms of unit sales. On the consumer front, we market the Ideapad and the Yoga range of notebooks, along with Legion gaming laptops and Ideacentre. On the commercial front, we market the ThinkPad notebooks as well as the ThinkCentre desktops.
The Independent: Does Lenovo have any plans to work on emerging technologies?
Rajesh Thadani: Yes. In addition to PCs and smart devices, we have also forayed into technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). We expect to see an increase in the adoption and growth of this technology as the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes significant in developing countries like India and Bangladesh. The number of businesses and consumers who are looking to the IoT to unify devices and streamline processes will continue to grow. We also believe that the Internet of Everything will be the disruptive trend this year.
The Independent: What are Lenovos plans for the Bangladeshi market?
Rajesh Thadani: Lenovo has 21.5 per cent market share in the global PC market. In India, we rank second in PCs, with a 24.1 per cent market share according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) in Q2 of FY 17/18.
In the Bangladeshi market, Lenovos market share currently comes third. We are aggressively focusing on growing our presence and achieving the number one position through an integrated business approach in the near future.
Yoga and Legion are the strongest brands of Lenovo in the laptop segment across the globe, and we wish to maintain the same reputation in Bangladesh. Lenovo provides innovative and path-breaking solutions with its Yoga 920 in the laptop space and Yoga Tab Pro in the tablet space. Our aim is to make PCs and other devices even more integrated and intuitive.
The Independent: Can the PC be replaced by any other device that we see today or may see in the near future?
Rajesh Thadani: A PC cannot be replaced with another device, as it is the best content-creation device that has been developed. The demand for PCs has reduced slightly because of the emergence of other technological devices, such as tablets, laptops, and smartphones. These devices have saturated the PC market. Amid all this, however, the PC still remains relevant.
The Independent: What are your long-term plans for Lenovo? Where is your company headed in the next five years in Bangladesh?
Rajesh Thadani: Lenovo aims to achieve the number one position in the next three years and we are committed to the Bangladeshi market through our sustained business strategies. We want to explore this market beyond PCs and are currently looking at strengthening our position in different categories, such as enterprise solutions, servers, IT management software, and smart devices.
The Independent: How does Lenovo operate its business since it has no local offices in Bangladesh?
Rajesh Thadani: Currently, we are looking at expanding our reach into the Bangladeshi market in the coming quarter. We will also be looking at strengthening the local team. Lenovo has tied up with three distributors in this market. Under them, there are other business partners through whom Lenovo sells its products. We have invested in this market through channel partners and branding tie-ups. We will continue to operate in this manner until we consolidate our presence in Bangladesh.
For after-sales service requirements, we have authorized service partners with presence in 22 locations across the country. Through these partners, we provide end-to-end after-sale services and ensure that customer issues are resolved. We ensure that rigorous training is provided to the engineers who interact with our customers here. That way, we can enable the highest quality of service.
DHL is our logistics partner. They source the spare parts and can even replace the entire product if it is found to be faulty or defective.
The Independent: What is your perception of the e-commerce industry in Bangladesh?
Rajesh Thadani: A study by the Indian Institute of E-commerce says that by 2020, India is expected to generate revenue worth USD 100 billion in online retail. Of that, USD 35 billion will be generated through the fashion e-commerce sector alone.
Bangladesh is yet to witness a boom in the e-commerce sector. But a huge opportunity awaits Bangladesh since the country is currently undergoing its demographic dividend phase.
