Lenovo, the world's largest computer maker, is spending 200 million baht in a drive to boost its less popular smartphones in Thailand and compete with globally recognised brands.
The move by the Beijing-based firm is expected to increase sales of its smartphones in Thailand to 1 million units this year from 300,000 last year, said Jeerawut Wongpimonporn, country manager at Lenovo Thailand.
"Our market share is also expected to double to 10% this year," he said.
The company will apply a dual brand strategy in Thailand, using Motorola for the high-end market and Lenovo for the low-end and middle market, said Mr Jeerawut.
Lenovo Group acquired Motorola's mobile business from Google for US$2.91 billion earlier this year with the aim of strengthening its position in the global market.
Lenovo is the world's third-largest smartphone maker.
Mr Jeerawut said competition in the local smartphone market will intensify over the next few years as almost a dozen brands overflow the market.
But he believes only three to five smartphone brands will be available in the global market as they consolidate to synergise their business.
Lenovo is spending an additional 20 million baht to appoint popular Thai boxer Buakaw Banchamek as its first brand ambassador to help the company expand upcountry. The brand ambassador is meant to represent Lenovo's high-performance and durable A series smartphones, priced under 6,000 baht.
The company recently introduced the A859 and A526 models, priced at 5,990 and 4,090 baht, respectively.
Mr Jeerawut said Lenovo would introduce 30 smartphone models this year, half costing less than 6,000 baht.
It will also launch 4G smartphones running on the 850-megahertz spectrum, as previous handsets ran on the 900- and 2100-MHz spectra.
"We're on the verge of offering affordable 4G smartphones operating on long-term evolution technology," he said.
Smartphones priced below 6,000 baht will account for half the total smartphone market in Thailand this year thanks to the increasing migration from 2G handsets to 3G smartphones.
Thai smartphone sales are projected to grow by 44% to 13 million units this year from 9 million last year.
Lenovo smartphone sales in Thailand for the first half are 10% lower than expected due to the political crisis. Sales revenue from smartphones will account for half of Lenovo Thailand's 2014 revenue.