Lenovo wants to grow in the smartphone industry and they know that the low-end and emerging markets are of great importance if they want to be a global force. Huawei has been making great inroads in those areas with their successful Honor 3X series. Our sources caught a new Lenovo model receiving approval from TENNA, the Chinese equivalent of the U.S.’s FCC, to go on sale in China.
The Lenovo S898T+ comes with some pretty impressive stats for its current pricing of only 999 yuan or approximately $162. In keeping with the current trend, it is gold in color and sports a 5.3-inch HD display at 720p. Powering the device is an octa-core MediaTek processor, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP main camera with LED flash and a 5MP FFC for video chatting and selfies. It is only 7.9 mm thick and is expected to run Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
Its main competition, the Huawei Honor 3X starts at 1,698 yuan ($276), so the Lenovo S898T+ should compete well against the Huawei model as prices in China just go crazy low. No exact release date was given and hopefully Lenovo will come up with an easier name to remember.
Lenovo is a name that we only heard bits and pieces about when it comes to smartphones in the U.S., but if their CEO, Yuanqing Yang, has his way, Lenovo will become a household word…especially when he was asked about industry giants Samsung and Apple and he claimed “Our mission is to surpass them.” He let Google’s Eric Schmidt know:
“If you think you want run the hardware business, you can keep the business; but if you are not interested in the hardware business, we definitely can handle that, take over that.”
It was shortly after that when Lenovo purchased Motorola Mobility from Google for $2.91 billion. Since then Yang has spoken to Motorola employees and still has many questions to answer – such as if they will keep the Motorola name in the U.S. and Latin America where he thinks they can get more leverage with that name. This is what they did when they masterfully took over IBM’s ThinkPad so it could be “Motorola by Lenovo.” One thing is for sure, Lenovo seems to be on the ball when it comes to growing their company and they see Motorola as a means to this end when it comes to the smartphone industry, but at the same time they will treat the former name with nurturing respect.
Let us know on our Google+ Page if you are happy about the Lenovo buy-out of Motorola – do you think Lenovo or Motorola will benefit the most from this marriage.