It looks like Lenovo wants to widen the lead between Xiaomi specifically, who are making a killing in China alone. In order to fight against Xiaomi, Lenovo will create a new brand to compete, one that will have online only sales and work directly with the customers.

Lenovo, normally known for its conventional and aggressive push into markets, will look to reverse into a small startup. This is a similar strategy used by OnePlus, Oppo's subsidiary, who tried an online-only approach with word of mouth being the biggest source of advertisement.

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This allowed OnePlus to cut sales on retailers and carriers, alongside becoming a notable brand for its hardware, rather than its PR and marketing. That being said, OnePlus has a reputation for bad marketing campaigns (showing the low funding) and slow invite lists.

Lenovo will launch the new brand on April 1, 2015, working mainly in China. The new brand will launch smartphones through social networks and their own websites, offering invite lists and other temporary set-backs to keep users interested.

This worked for OnePlus and has, to a degree, worked for Xiaomi, but it is no guarantee it will work for Lenovo.  Lenovo phones don't have a strong brand value or premium handsets, since Lenovo's major markets are in the low-end of the spectrum.