Lenovo adopts Apple way in chasing Samsung

Taking a page from the playbook of Apple Inc, a company it's already beaten in China smartphone sales, Lenovo Group Ltd is counting on a chain of retail stores to help it surpass leader Samsung Electronics Co.

The outlets offer the gleaming glass and wide counters found at Apple shops, with phones and tablets sitting on tables for customers to try out.

Lenovo's Solution Center takes the place of the Genius Bar, and employees look trim and neat in black polo shirts instead of Apple's blue T-shirts.

The retail outlets are part of a strategy to overtake Samsung in the world's biggest smartphone market, offering a range of devices in an environment starkly different from the typical Chinese electronics bazaar.