Chinese PC-maker Lenovo is ramping up its smartphone ambitions, aiming to sell 60 million units during its 2013 financial year (started 1 April), according to China Daily.

A sign perhaps of their growing confidence in mobile, Lenovo executives, according to the report, see Apple and Samsung as their biggest competitors in the smartphone and tablet space.

Lenovo is building up a strong smartphone following, but almost all progress to date has come in its domestic market.

According to IDC figures mentioned in the report, Lenovo shipped 23.5 million smartphones during 2012 – a fivefold increase compared with 2011 – and claimed an 11 per cent share of the Chinese smartphone market by the end of the year.

Lenovo is ranked second only to Samsung in its domestic market when it comes to smartphones.

According to a report in Beijing Business Today, Lenovo aims to be the biggest smartphone supplier in China within two years.

It may not have to wait that long. According to research firm Gartner, Lenovo will become the top smartphone vendor in China this year.

According to Gartner figures, published in November 2012, Lenovo’s smartphone share jumped from 1.7 per cent in 3Q 2011 to 14.8 per cent in Q3 2012. The rapid progress put the Chinese supplier in second place behind Samsung (16.7 per cent), and well above Apple (6.9 per cent).

“It is the only local smartphone player that can compete with global top brands in China, thanks to its household brand recognition, nationwide distribution, strong portfolio and reasonable pricing,” said Gartner at the time.

Lenovo does have international smartphone sales, including Russia, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines.

Lenovo also announced this week it would be shipping smartphones to Nigeria by the end of the year.