Lenovo partners with GNT to cover Baltic markets.

© Bonnier Group/Äripäev | news2biz LITHUANIA 

Lenovo, the Chinese computer maker, has closed down its Baltic rep office in Vilnius but says it will continue to cover the market just as efficiently via local partners.
"We had six staff in Vilnius to cover the region but eventually decided that it was the most optimal way to manage the business, especially in Latvia and Estonia," says Erik Søe-Pedersen, Lenovo's general manager for the Baltics, to news2biz LITHUANIA.
"The set-up we have moved to hinges on our strong relationship with the GNT distributor present in all three countries, whom we asked to play a bigger role in our Baltic business. Part of our sales business is also conducted through the Norwegian Atea IT services firm's local units."
As of 1 February Lenovo will be also launching local-language customer support service with the help of a call centre in Lithuania.
"Lenovo grew quite aggressively during the last couple of quarters when the whole IT equipment market stalled in the region. In Lithuania we won a few big orders, and while the country is now our strongest Baltic market, in the longer term I believe Estonia could benefit the most from our partnership with GNT," concludes Mr Søe-Pedersen.
Mr Søe-Pedersen would not provide market share figures but claims that Lenovo is now "very close" to its main competitor US HP in terms of Baltic market shares.

We have talked to:
Erik Søe-Pedersen esp@lenovo.com
Tel +45 30 38 06 29 (mobile)