Mainland computer giant Lenovo Group will see sales growth in its core domestic market slip in its fiscal first quarter, weighed down by the impact of the Sichuan earthquake, according to analysts. Add that to lingering slow demand in North America and the world's fourth-largest personal computer supplier could see lower than forecast global shipments and revenue in the quarter to June, they said. 'We have revised down our [fiscal] first-quarter and full-year earnings forecast by 16 per cent and 4 per cent to US$103 million and US$525 million, respectively,' wrote analyst Joseph Ho of Daiwa Institute of Research in a report released yesterday. 'We forecast that Lenovo's global PC shipments will increase 14 per cent year on year to 5.5 million units for its first quarter, down from our original forecast of 18 per cent year-on-year growth to 5.74 million units.' Mr Ho said Lenovo's personal computer shipment growth on the mainland was 15 per cent in the quarter to June, down from 24 per cent in the quarter to March. Lenovo's Greater China sales geography makes up its largest market worldwide. It accounted for 34.5 per cent of company's revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter to March, while its Americas geographical market contributed 27.5 per cent. Bryan Ma, director for personal systems research at International Data Corp, said Sichuan accounted for 3 per cent of total personal computer shipments on the mainland. However, he said the Sichuan market's impact on computer sales during the quarter 'may be in the sense that the country's attention was diverted to the important matter of relief efforts in the province after the earthquake'. 'But that's all speculation until we see the actual market numbers,' Mr Ma said, noting that IDC was expected this month to have its preliminary estimates of worldwide personal computer shipments. Charles Guo, an analyst at JP Morgan, said the dismal post-earthquake market situation on the mainland was 'a temporary setback', as computer vendors pushed their summer sales promotions late last month which was earlier than usual, 'to move inventory and help perk up the market'. 'Management has indicated that personal computer shipments on the mainland have picked up recently,' Mr Ho said. Lenovo, which released its new 'Idea' brand notebook and desktop computers to the international markets in the first half of the year, is scheduled to announce its fiscal first-quarter results early next month.
