Lenovo seeks more local vendors

MANILA, Philippines - Chinese tech giant Lenovo sees the Philippines as among its focus markets in Southeast Asia on the back of its steady growing economy fueled by consumer spending and the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

With that, the global tech firm plans to strike more partnerships with local vendors as part of expanding its personal computer (PC) and mobile presence nationwide.

Lenovo vice president and general manager for Southeast Asia Harry Yang said in an interview with The STAR the Philippines is a focus country in Southeast Asia given its stable economy.

“The Philippines is one of our best markets because its economy is not affected much by currency fluctuations. Internally, the Philippines has the best performance in (our) consumer and commercial (business),” he said.

Yang said the Philippines has a big potential given its population, which is the second biggest in the region, next to Indonesia.

“The Philippines in Southeast Asia is big. It has more potential (compared with regional peers by) just comparing population,” he noted.

As of August this year, the Philippines’ population stood at 101.6 million compared with Indonesia’s 248 million, data from the 3rd ASEAN Connectivity Forum held last month showed.

Vietnam has the third biggest population with 89.7 million followed by Thailand with 68.2 million, Myanmar with 61.5 million and Malaysia with 29.9 million.

Apart from population size, Lenovo benefits from the growing BPO sector and improving education sector, Yang said.

“In commercial, we are very strong. We get big projects from education. Another big portion (of our business) is BPO,” he added.

Lenovo, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of PCs and mobile phones, has been in the Philippines for a long time in terms of its PC business.

However, it only entered the local mobile market in 2011 as among the five pilot markets outside China.

Noting that brand is now number one in terms of sales location in Metro Manila and Davao, Lenovo senior marketing manager for Southeast Asia Quek Lit Yang said the China-based tech manufacturer plans to expand in other parts of the country.