Lenovo to open 150 service outlets in India by March 2017

Lenovo, which currently operates exclusive service centres in metro cities, wants to extend its presence to smaller cities and towns in a few months, the company confirmed during the unveiling of the flagship Z2 Plus in New Delhi on September 22.

• The company is expected to reach the milestone of 100 stores by the end of October, and open 50 more by March 2017.

"We are planning to open 150 exclusive service centres by March for our products in over 60 towns that jointly account for 80 percent of our customer base," Sudhin Mathur, executive director Lenovo Mobile Business Group, said.

Having achieved success with online sales, Lenovo's move to increase its presence on ground with brick-and-motor shops will definitely be beneficial for the company, as it brings more brand awareness in tier-1 and tier-2 cities and towns.

India is world's fastest-growing smartphone market, home to over 150 big and small mobile vendors vying for share.

Even rivals Xiaomi and OnePlus, which only sold devices online, have tied up with retail chains and carrier networks, such as Airtel and Idea, to sell their products.

"We (OnePlus) gradually aim to bring our product experience to offline markets, starting with experience zones at our own exclusive service centres and more than 100 partner stores in major cities. Our partnership with Idea Cellular will offer our customers easy access to touch, feel and experience the OnePlus 3 before making a purchase decision," Vikas Agarwal, general manager - India, OnePlus, said last week.

Also read: Motorola sells record 100,000 Moto E3 Power units on Flipkart in 24 hours

According to IDC's second quarter report, Lenovo and Motorola together hold 7.7 percent market share, behind Micromax (12.9 percent) and Samsung (25.1 percent).

Also read: IDC report on Second Quarter (2016) of Indian Smartphone Market

Lenovo also announced that the new flagship, Z2 Plus, will be available exclusively on Amazon India from the midnight of September 25 with prices starting at Rs 17,999, making it world's most affordable smartphone with Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon 820 quad-core SoC (System-on-Chip).

Besides the monster processor, Z2 Plus also boasts top-notch camera hardware, fingerprint sensor, premium build quality and long-lasting battery.

Read more: Five reasons why Lenovo's new Z2 Plus irresistible to buy

In a related development, Lenovo has confirmed that another flagship phone, the Moto Z series, will be launched next month.

Read more: Moto Z series tipped to be released in India next month; here's everything you need to know

Key specifications of Lenovo Z2 Plus (aka ZUK Z2):