Lenovo is creating a new smartphone brand to help it fend off Xiaomi in its native China. The two are locked to decide who controls the Chinese smartphone market. It is a fight where Apple has the same number of troops in the war that the New Zealand Maori had in the English War of the Roses and Samsung is still a bit player.

Lenovo’s answer is to create a new brand focused exclusively on selling mobile phones. They will appear in the shops in the middle of next year. Xiaomi has done well thanks to its marketing through social networks and forums and its colourful designs, and the provision of its own strong software and services offering.

The new Lenovo brand will look to ape some or even all of these elements. In particular, the new company will focus on selling its hardware and services online. It is unlikely that we will see any of these in the EU or US. The new brand will be entirely focused on the Chinese market.

Lenovo insists that it will continue to sell phones under the Lenovo brand, which will be offered through the traditional operator and retail outlets. Lenovo also insists that the new company will be focused on the Chinese market. Lenovo's acquisition of Motorola seems to show that it has other plans for the West.