(Photo : Lenovo IdeaPhone K900)

Chinese multinational technology firm Lenovo Group Ltd wants to challenge the dominance of South Korean electronics firm Samsung in China's smartphone market. Even if it means launching owned stores that can be compared with the Apple Stores.

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Lenovo's China Operations President Chen Xudong said the company will rely heavily on a chain of retail stores in an attempt to overtake Samsung Electronics. The stores feature gleaming glass and wide counters that are found at Apple shops.

More Choices, Lesser Prices

Chen said he welcomed the comparison but insisted that Lenovo will provide more choices for customers to try and play with before finally deciding to purchase. He said Apple also allows customers to play with the products but Lenovo will provide far more choices.

He also stressed that Apple in China focuses more on selling the iPhone 5 while Lenovo's stores will feature at least 10 handsets under its IdeaPhone brand. In terms of prices, the Lenovo handsets range from CNY 749 ($122) to CNY3,299 ($539) while the iPhone 5 ranges from CNY5,288 ($864) to CNY6,888 ($1,125).

Overtaking Samsung in 2 Years

The latest marketing and sales effort of Lenovo is an attempt to make a crack at Samsung's leadership in China's smartphone market after the company had successfully beaten Apple in smartphone sales on the mainland.

Lenovo aims to overtake Samsung in China, the world's largest smartphone market, within two years, Chen said.

According to U.S. market research group Strategy Analytics, Samsung sold around 15.3 million smartphones in China in the second quarter of this year, to retain its position as market leader with 19.4% share.

During the April-June period, Lenovo, ZTE, and Coolpad managed to capture market shares ranging from 9.7% to 12.3%. Apple's market share in China dropped to 4.3% after selling a mere 3.4 million iPhone units in the country.