TECH company Lenovo Philippines expects continued growth in sales for its gaming laptops and personal computers on the back of the growing gaming community in the country, especially in Cebu.
“Gaming is exponentially big. In the last three years we saw everybody investing in gaming,” said Michael Ngan, general manager of Lenovo Philippines.
Ngan said that what was once a hobby before by Filipinos to purely entertain themselves or as a means to de-stress has now become a tournament where they could earn big money and compete with other nationalities.
Gaming or eSports, according to Ngan, is a niche market for a tech company like them. Although they were a late entrant in the gaming market, Lenovo, he said, still cornered a good market share.
Casual gamers, on the average, invest around P50,000 for a gaming laptop. The hardcore ones, or those that make a living out of it invest around P200,000.
“The refresh cycle is very fast. You see gamers upgrade their laptops or personal computers every three to six months,” said Ngan, noting that this also poses a challenge for information technology companies like them to enhance their products, especially in terms of speed, power and other boosting features.
Esports is one of the new crops of sports in this decade. In fact, the Philippines has been issuing professional licenses for players. Esports was also part of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
On Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, Lenovo Philippines opened its first exclusive Legion concept store in the Visayas in SM City Cebu to make its products more accessible to eSports athletes and enthusiasts.
Legion is Lenovo’s dedicated gaming brand which offers a wide range of products designed to provide a complete and immersive experience.
“It’s an experiential zone for gamers,” said Ngan.
Launched in 2017, the Legion line has established a significant foothold in the Philippines and was even recognized by global market research company GFK as one of the fastest-growing PC gaming brands.
Located at the 2nd floor of SM City Cebu’s Cyberzone area, the store showcases Lenovo’s top-of-the-line gaming devices such as monitors, towers, laptops and peripherals and accessories.
“Putting up a Legion store in one of the Philippines’ major cities is a significant stride for Lenovo. We work very hard in developing best-performing devices and part of the goal is to make these products accessible,” said Ngan.
During the opening, Lenovo hosted gaming tournaments which saw players compete on Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat X and Left 4 Dead 2. (KOC)