Lenovo’s LePad: Finally a Game Plan That Could Work 联想乐Pad：终於拿出了像样的东西

After several months of hype, Lenovo (HKEx: 992) is finally sharing with the world a few clues about how exactly it’s going to succeed with its new tablet PCs, which are already well behind most of the competition. After finally launching its first LePad this week, priced at an unimpressive 3,499 yuan, Lenovo tells the China Daily it will launch 2-3 more tablets this year, including a LePad 2 in the fourth quarter and one model aimed at enterprise customers. Lenovo seems to think that segmenting PCs is the way to go, unlike Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) one-size-fits-all approach. I personally think the Apple approach is more cost effective and thus a bit better, but I’m still giving Lenovo a good chance of success. The reason has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with sales channels. Apple and other tablet  makers like Samsung (Seoul: 005930) may have superior products, but they just don’t have the reach in China of a company like Lenovo, whose sales channels extend all the way down to the smallest cities.

Bottom line: Lenovo’s upcoming crop of LePads will succeed in China, but don’t look for the tablet PCs to win big market share anywhere else.

经过几个月的大张旗鼓造势後，联想终於向世界展示了自己的平板电脑利器”乐Pad”。但它的时机已经远远落後于多数竞争对手。乐Pad定价3,499元，没能给消费者带来惊喜。联想对《中国日报》表示，今年还将推出2-3款平板电脑，包括在第四季度推出的乐Pad2，以及面向企业用户的一款平板电脑。联想似乎采取了细分市场的战术，而非苹果<AAPL.O>的”一款产品打天下”。我个人认为苹果的办法成本效益比更高，但对联想仍旧看好。其实这跟产品的技术高低毫无关系，真正起决定性作用的是销售渠道。苹果和三星<005930.KS>也许产品过人，但在中国市场，他们的销售渠道和渗透程度远逊於联想。

一句话：联想姗姗来迟的乐Pad系列产品将在中国获得成功，但在中国市场以外没戏。