Lenovo Group Ltd. will introduce a new tablet to be sold at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., as it seeks to double its market share in North America.

The tablet expands the company’s existing product line, Aymar de Lencquesaing, president of Lenovo North America, said Thursday in an interview. He declined to specify pricing, but said it would be less than an iPad from Apple Inc. Full-size iPads cost from $399 to $829 depending on capacity and features, according to Apple’s website.

“I look at market penetration in the U.S. and we have a lot of room to grow into consumer,” he said.

Worldwide shipments of tablets and 2-in-1 devices declined 5.9 in the first quarter to 47.1 million, the second consecutive year-to-year quarterly decline, International Data Corp. said Thursday in a report. Lenovo’s unit sales increased 23 percent in the quarter, one of the few makers to experience growth in the period, and had 5.3 percent of the market, IDC said. Apple holds the top spot with 27 percent followed by Samsung Electronics Co. with 19 percent, IDC said.

Lenovo, the world’s largest maker of personal computers, already sells its products through Walmart.com, and the tablet is a way to enter stores and reach customers more directly, Lencquesaing said. It also presents an opportunity as consumers increasingly view tablets as addition to computers rather than a replacement, he said.

Seeking to build its name recognition for the product, the Chinese company is also increasing social media engagement and marketing efforts, Lencquesaing said.

David Fuller's view

China may still be listed as a developing market but it is progressing rapidly, benefiting from a well educated middleclass and also globalisation, which enabled it to become a top manufacturer for the world. 

Commentators point out that China’s rising wages are pricing it out of manufacturing within Asia.  That is only true in terms of low level assembly production.  China has moved up market, evidenced by its manufacturing of Apple products, from computers to smart phones and now smart watches.

This experience of assembling the world’s top products provides China with the fastest learning curve, enabling it to launch its own products in competition with the world’s leading manufacturers.

Lenovo is a classic example, now being the world’s largest manufacturer of personal computers, and moving steadily into world markets, not least the USA.  Lenovo also has an impressive chart pattern, listed in Hong Kong and also as a US ADR, although it is not cheap (est p/e 22.75 & yield 1.79).

Chinese companies are rapidly becoming competitive in many other consumer products, or soon will be, including automobiles.  There is nothing wrong with competition, of course, as it keeps manufacturers on their toes and accelerates the development process for all products. 

This is exciting for both consumers and manufacturers.  The former have more choice and also better products, while the latter can operate in global markets.  However, manufacturers have never faced more competition and it is increasing steadily as more economies develop.  The penalty for falling behind is rapid obsolescence.   

Today, the world’s top four manufacturers are the USA, China, Japan and Germany.  Modi’s India has a chance of joining this elite group within a decade.  Long-term investors could do a lot worse than having some positions in the world’s most successful manufacturing companies.       

(See also: Hong Kong Ex-Convict Becomes Billionaire With Tesla Dreams)