Lenovo to take on the big boys with LePhone

BEIJING - "I am convinced that Lenovo's latest smartphone, LePhone, will be a success in the Chinese market," said Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of Lenovo Group.

The new LePhone is ready for a fight with Apple's iPhone in the Chinese market and is bound to succeed since LePhone is customized for Chinese users and has received strong support from top domestic service and content suppliers, including Baidu Inc, Alibaba Group and Tencent Inc, Liu, 66, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

Based on Google Inc's Android operating system, the first version of LePhone, running on the third-generation (3G) standard WCDMA, which is used by China Unicom, will be officially launched on Tuesday and available in stores from May 17.