Lenovo launches ThinkPad X1 Carbon in India, priced at Rs 85,000

Lenovo's latest ultrabook, ThinkPad X1 Carbon, is now in India priced at Rs 85,000. The Chinese computer-maker also said it plans to scale up its Think range of exclusive retail outlets to 30 in the domestic market.

Lenovo shaved the 14-inch (35.5 centimeter) laptop computer's weight to 1.3 kilograms from 1.7 kilograms of last year's model and claims it to be the world's lightest business Ultrabook.

According to the company, it would have up to eight hours of battery life and the startup time was reduced by as much as half to under 20 seconds.

Lenovo Group acquired the ThinkPad brand with IBM Corp's personal computer unit in 2005. 

"Currently, we have two exclusive Think Business Stores at Jaipur and Pune. We put up only Think products in these stores based on customer feedback. We now aim to put across 30 such stores," Lenovo India MD Amar Babu said.

Babu, however, did not offer a timeline for the rollout of these stores.

Besides, the company also plans to add another 500 retail outlets in its bid to penetrate deeper. Babu said the company is quite bullish both in the medium- and long-term, notwithstanding the current dip.

"The PC penetration in the domestic market is in single-digits as against about 30 per cent in other emerging markets like Brazil and Russia. So we have a huge opportunity here. May be there is a temporary dip but in the medium- and long-term we are quite bullish about the growth," he said.

Babu said Lenovo India has grown faster in the last few years: "Last year we grew about 48 per cent, which was seven times the industry growth."

The company commands 17.1 per cent market share with consumer segment accounting for nearly 12 per cent and SMB segment seven per cent, last quarter, he said.

"Our enterprise business was strong and now has become even stronger, while consumer and SMB segments have actually gained market share with the kind of synergy that we have put in place," he said.

Declining to offer investment plans, Babu said Lenovo has made significant investments to expand its consumer and SMB portfolios besides positioning the brand.

"We have also set up 1,000 odd exclusive franchisees, and have built service network to support our expansion. This investment has helped us grow our market share," he said.

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Source by BT