Can Lenovo do China in India?

Lenovo, the Chinese computer-maker, is working on an interesting new strategy to tap rural markets in five countries. These include Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, India and Turkey. " The PC maker plans to build a vast distribution network to fully cover rural areas in Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, India and turkey during the next three years," the Financial Times newspaper said, qupting a company executive. The strategy has helped Lenovo achieve a21% growth in three months to December 2010 in China. This is against the average 3.4% growth in the PC industry,according to FT. Can Lenovo replicate the success in India?

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India is a fairly complex market. A large chunk of PC or tablet sales are based on loans that PC makers offer. The rural and urban consumer in India has low appetite for credit. Lenovo will have to either tie-up with an established bank or a financial services company in India to reach to the market it wishes to tap.

Multi-national companies are looking to create a powerful emerging-market strategy. According to Mckinsey, a consulting firm, in 15 years’, 57% of the 1 billion n households earning greater than $20,000 a year will reside in countries like China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey.