By Tom Noda
With an eye to capture the country?s youth market, Lenovo Philippines launched on Thursday, Oct.17, its expanded A-series dual-SIM Android-based smartphones.
Led by newly appointed Lenovo Philippines country manager Michael Ngan, the Chinese tech firm unveiled in Makati City its four new smartphones ? the A269i, A369i, A516, and A850.
Ngan said the new A-series range is powered by dual and quad core processors and runs on Android?s latest version Jellybean 2.0.
The Lenovo A516 and A369i are now available and priced at P5,999 and P4,499 respectively. The Lenovo A269i and A850, meanwhile, will hit store shelves by the end of October and will be sold at P2,799 and P9,999 respectively.
Ngan said Lenovo?s launch in the Philippines of its LTE smartphones such as the K900 and K860 will follow by January of 2014.
The K900 handset has a 5.5-inch HD IPS display with Intel 2.0GHz processor, while the K800 is powered by quad-core 1.4GHz Intel chip with a 5-inch HD IPS display.
Ngan described the Lenovo A-series as an ideal choice for consumers, particularly youngsters, looking for budget-friendly phones that are loaded with features like high-quality cameras and fast processors.
?We are strengthening our smartphone footprint in the Philippines with the ?value for money? A-Series smartphones to cater to the youth market who wants to be connected 24/7 and to the rest of the Philippine population who have yet to own a smartphone,? Ngan said.
A-series features
The Lenovo A269i has a 2-megapixel rear camera, 256MB RAM, 512MB internal storage and microSD card bay. It is has 1GHz dual core CPU running on Android Gingerbread OS and is available in black color with 3.5?inch HVGA screen display.
Meanwhile, the A369i serves as Lenovo?s inexpensive alternative to many feature phones. Its Jelly Bean OS promises to give users a speedy performance as well as gaming capability with its 1.3GHz dual-core processor and 4-inch screen display. The device comes in black and white colors.
As for the Lenovo A516, it was designed to offer a distinct balance between viewing more digital content through its 4.5-inch screen. It comes in charcoal grey with curved edges made to fit neatly into the hand. The handset has a 5-megapixel rear camera with its IPS screen having 178 degree viewing angle. Its battery life is said to last up to 23 hours of talk time.
Designed for movie junkies or those who love browsing the Web, the A850 comes with a 5.5-inch display screen, 178-degree wide-view IPS technology and 1.3GHz quad core CPU. It features 5-megapixel rear camera with flash and 4GB internal memory for apps and storage. The phone comes in black and white colors.
Ngan said local carrier Smart Communications has included the Lenovo A-series to its Plan 999 postpaid bundles.
He added Lenovo is currently working with other networks, which are expected to launch similar postpaid plans soon.
The executive also noted that after being named the world?s number one PC maker, Lenovo is now rapidly scaling its offerings into the smartphone and tablet markets to become a ?PC Plus? leader.
