Lenovo Group, the world’s largest personal computer (PC) maker, reported a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue for the June quarter, a sign of continuing recovery in the computer market after two years of weak demand.
The Beijing-based company achieved better-than-expected revenue of US$15.4 billion in the quarter ending June, exceeding the estimated US$14.1 billion number expected by analysts.
It marks Lenovo’s third consecutive quarter of revenue growth after a period of sluggish global demand since late 2022.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
“The great start to our fiscal year has been driven by our clear strategy and strong execution, our persistent innovation and operational excellence, as well as our globalisation advantages,” Lenovo chairman and chief executive Yang Yuanqing said in a statement ahead of the company’s earnings webcast on Thursday.
Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive officer of Lenovo Group. Photo: Bloomberg alt=Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive officer of Lenovo Group. Photo: Bloomberg>
Lenovo reported profitability across all areas of its business in the first quarter of its 2024-25 fiscal year. Net income grew 65 per cent to US$315 million from US$191 in the same period last year, based on non-GAAP reporting standards.
Lenovo’s Intelligence Devices Group (IDG), which includes PCs, smartphones and tablets, recorded double-digit year-on-year revenue growth to US$11.4 billion in the quarter, with the PC business maintaining a 23 per cent global market share and its smartphone and tablet businesses each posting 30 per cent revenue growth in this period.
Lenovo has also been sharpening its focus on artificial intelligence (AI), integrating the technology into its devices and servers with native capabilities.
AI PCs, which have become a major industry trend, are laptops and desktop systems equipped with advanced processors that allow them to run generative AI tasks on-device, instead of processing the data on the cloud.
The company launched a dozen AI PC models in May and is expected to roll out more during IFA, the world’s largest consumer electronics and home appliances show in September, and at Lenovo’s Tech World event in October.
A Lenovo presentation at Lenovo Tech World in Beijing, November 15, 2019. Photo: Reuters alt=A Lenovo presentation at Lenovo Tech World in Beijing, November 15, 2019. Photo: Reuters>
In China, Lenovo is offering models embedded with the company’s proprietary AI PC intelligence, company executive vice-president Luca Rossi told the Post in an interview in May. Rossi said Beijing’s different regulatory system and concerns over data sovereignty were taken into consideration when building the AI system for China.
In the earnings webcast on Thursday, Lenovo’s Wang said the firm has received positive feedback from the initial launch of AI PCs for the China market, and that it was “both uniquely positioned and well-prepared to lead in an era of hybrid AI”.
The company expects that AI PCs will account for 50 per cent of the total market by 2027.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Source Agencies
