China’s Lenovo and Xiaomi plan to develop smart gadgets that will be operated by the newest Windows operating system, Windows 10, after recently inking a deal with U.S. technology veteran, Microsoft Corp.
Microsoft announced during a two-day conference in Shenzhen that its strategy to popularize Windows 10 in China is to intensify its partnership with the country's top software and hardware makers.
The latest version of the operating system is scheduled to kick off this summer.
One of the leading smartphone makers in China, Lenovo said that it will also launch Windows-run smartphones coinciding with the official release of the operating system. This is according to Lenovo China's general manager, Tong Fuyao.
Lenovo is also the parent company of Motorola Mobility.
Microsoft also announced in a separate statement that Lenovo phone will serve as a contract device with the country's biggest telecom firm, China Mobile.
Meanwhile, China's Xiaomi, the world's third largest smartphone maker, is tasked to provide Microsoft feedback based on a test run of Windows 10 on Mi4 later this year. Mi4 is the current flagship device of Xiaomi.
For the past twelve months ending in Sept. 2014, Windows Phone has only secured a 4-percent share in the Chinese market contrary with the over 90-percent fraction shared by Apple's iOs and Google's Android, as released by Kantar Research.
Industry experts predict that Microsoft will have a hard time penetrating the Chinese market deeper.
Last month, e-commerce giant Alibaba revealed that it will be investing in smartphone maker Meizu to popularize its own brand of mobile operating system, the Yun OS.