Justin Tye (Exeed)
Lenovo is tapping Exeed to distribute its Google Assistant-enabled smart home products in New Zealand.
The full portfolio is available for pre-order and will be available at Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi and Noel Leeming from early August.
Distribution for Lenovo's datacentre business products lies exclusively with Dicker Data while its PC business is shared between Dicker Data, Synnex and Ingram Micro.
Exeed is perhaps best known, however, as a partner HP.
Managing director Justin Tye said the Lenovo smart home range was a retail only play.
"Exeeds involvement was driven largely by our strength in retail channels and development of the smart home solutions category," he said.
"We are just acting as a fulfilment partner for Lenovo for this category, which does not overlap with HP’s line-up."
Tye said there were no plans to expand the relationship with Lenovo beyond the category, largely due to the significant investment Exeed has in the HP relationship.
Lenovo confirmed the availability of the Lenovo smart display with the Google assistant for voice command control along with other products in New Zealand late last week in two screen sizes 7-inch and 10-inch, positioned as a single hub offering hands-free control of smart home devices.
Also available is the Lenovo smart clock, with a four-inch screen, for the bedroom.
Lenovo is also offering a smart bulb with adjustable colour temperature and brightness, an app-controlled smart plug and a smart HD camera with motion detection.
Lenovo is also offering a smart home starter pack including the lighting, security cameras and smart automation accessories.
