Lenovo unveils new smart TVs to vie for greater share

Chinese technology firm Lenovo Group unveiled its new smart TV models on Wednesday, hoping to overtake its rivals such as LeTV Information Technology Co, which have taken up quite a chunk of the nation's market for smart TVs.

Lenovo's new flagship smart TV, the S9 in 4K Ultra HD (high definition) format, comes in two screen sizes, 40 inches and 50 inches, going for 4,999 yuan ($799.84) and 3,499 yuan respectively, plus annual service fees of 399 yuan, the company announced at a launch event in Beijing.

The term 4K refers to being roughly four times the resolution of a full high-definition video format.

To strengthen Lenovo's footing in the smart TV sector, the company had expanded its smart TV specialty outlets to more than 1,000 throughout the country during 2013, from no more than 100 at the beginning of that year, according to Ren Zhongwei, general manager of the smart TV unit at Lenovo China.

The figure will exceed 2,000 in 2014, Ren said at the event, revealing that the pre-orders for its flagship smart TV models has so far totaled more than 100,000 on a website, which was launched earlier this month by the company specifically for its smart TV business.

Industry analysts kept cool in forecasting Lenovo's fate in the smart TV arena, which the Chinese technology giant has been in for about two years but has yet to perform as impressively as it has in the PC and smartphone markets.

"Lenovo hasn't proved to truly understand the home appliance market so far," Jia Jinghua, a Shandong-based independent analyst, told the Global Times Wednesday.

The company needs to boost its efforts in marketing to reach out to mass consumers, Jia remarked.

Zhang Yi, CEO of Shenzhen-based Internet research firm iiMedia Research, told the Global Times Wednesday that Lenovo's strength in sales networks may significantly help lift its share of the market but "it's hard to foretell the future, taking into account the intensified competition in the market."

Lenovo's announcement came shortly after LeTV's release of its new flagship smart TV model, the 50-inch X50 Air, on April 9, no more than three months since LeTV introduced its last smart TV product.

LeTV's new television also touts 4K, retailing for 2,999 yuan plus two years' service charges of 980 yuan.

Baidu's online video portal iQiyi and smartphone vendor Xiaomi have in recent months introduced their latest smart TV products as well.