Feb. 18 (NBD) -- Lenovo will likely bring Le Lemon back to life as an independent sub-brand, industry sources revealed. 

This came after @Lemeng, the alleged official Sina Weibo account of Le Lemon that hasn't been updated for nearly three years, released a post claiming the company held a meeting last Tuesday night discussing the resurrection of the brand and mentioned Huawei's Honor, Xiaomi's Redmi, and vivo's IQOO.

The news immediately triggered heated discussions in the mobile phone industry, with some wondering whether the Beijing-based electronics device manufacturer is on the road to expand its footprint in the smartphone market. 

Lenovo responded when reached by Securities Daily the company doesn't rule out the possibility of re-launching new product series in accordance with market changes and customer demand, but all information is subject to its official announcement. 

Photo/Shetuwang

An insider with Lenovo remarked the company is indeed considering expanding its mobile phone brand matrix to further complement its product line. 

A phone brand targeting the young generation, Le Lemon was dropped by Lenovo in 2015 due to the company's decision to stretch all resources to the limit to develop the Moto brand. 

The company's newest possible move is likely an answer to rivals' measures to tap the medium- and high-end segments for growth amid weakening sales of foreign phone makers like Apple and Samsung. 

Last Tuesday, vivo launched a new sub-brand called Vivo IQOO. In early 2019, Xiaomi announced the independence of the Redmi brand. Prior to this, Huawei made public the plan to further upgrade its phone sub-brand Honor. 

Industry insider Ding Shaojiang said with the increasing saturation of the smartphone sector, further market segmentation will be an inevitable trend for mobile phone makers to make the most out of the existing customer base. 

While major phone manufacturers mostly run multiple brands simultaneously, Lenovo has to respond actively. The company now operates Moto and Lenovo brands in the phone market, which target the low- and high-end segment, respectively, and the revival of the Le Lemon brand will be helpful to boost Lenovo's brand upgrading, enabling the company to better cover all market segments, Ding added. 

To mobile phone makers, running sub-brands independently gives them a high level of flexibility when it comes to product positioning, marketing, and overseas market development. More importantly, such a practice won't affect the operations of their master brands. 

For example, the Honor brand, which sells smartphones targeted at the young generation, registered 13 percent year-over-year growth in sales for 2018, contributing a lot to Huawei's top position in China's smartphone market by shipments. 

However, QQ Tech said in a report the resurrection of Le Lemon is more likely a publicity stunt, as it would bring nothing but harm to Lenovo. 

Compared with its four rivals - Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo, Lenovo is not capable of simultaneously operating multiple sub-brands, the report analyzed. Meanwhile, the re-launch of the Le Lemon brand will cause further resource subdivision as the smartphone industry is highly reliant on capital and supply chain. Also, it will possibly hurt the interests of Lenovo's two other phone brands, given the absence of a clear brand strategy in the company.  

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn