Lenovo gains from phones and PCs

Lenovo Group said yesterday that its net profit surged 23 percent in the second quarter on increased sales of personal computers and surging revenue from tablets and mobile phones.

Lenovo, the world's No. 1 PC maker, also scored a first by selling more smartphones than PCs, helping it surpass rivals Samsung and Xiaomi to become China's No. 1 smartphone vendor at the end of June.

In the second quarter, Lenovo's net profit soared to US$214 million while revenue jumped 18 percent year on year to US$10.4 billion.

"This has been a quarter of milestones for Lenovo — record PC share and an even stronger No. 4 position in global smartphones," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive of Lenovo.

Lenovo has been the world's largest PC maker for five consecutive quarters and its market share of 19.4 percent was its highest ever in the quarter through June, up 2.7 percentage points from a year ago.

Lenovo became the world's third-largest tablet vendor with 2.3 million devices sold, up 67 percent. In smartphones, Lenovo sold a record 15.8 million units in the quarter, up 39 percent year on year.

In the domestic market, Lenovo ranked No. 1 in smartphones with a 12.5 percent share, followed by Xiaomi's 12.4 percent and Coolpad's 11.5 percent.

"It's important for Lenovo to lead the Chinese market where consumers have established brand awareness," said Lu Yongchang, research director of Beijing-based Analysys International.

Globally, Lenovo gained a 5.4 percent market share in mobile phone sales, behind Samsung, Apple and Huawei, according to International Data Corp.