Lenovo in 'attack' mode after record market share gains

Chinese technology giant Lenovo is gearing up to launch its new generation of smart devices, after posting strong earnings in the quarter to June on record global market share gains in personal computers, smartphones and media tablets.

"We will attack these product categories in the second half [of this year]," Lenovo chairman and chief executive Yang Yuanqing said yesterday in a conference call from New York City.

Yang said the company will bring more innovative consumer and enterprise products to market once its US$2.91 billion takeover of Google's Motorola Mobility operation and the US$2.3 billion purchase of International Business Machines' low-end server division are cleared by regulators. It expected to close those deals later this year.

Lenovo, the world's largest supplier of personal computers, reported yesterday a 23 per cent jump in net profit in its fiscal first quarter to June 30 to US$213.5 million, up from US$173.9 million a year earlier, to beat the US$197.3 million average of analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Lenovo seized a record-high global market share of 19.6 per cent in personal computers on shipments of 14.5 million units in the quarter.

Yang pointed out that the company had sold more smartphones than personal computers for the first time during the period. It shipped 15.8 million smartphones to rank fourth worldwide, with a 5.4 per cent market share, and surpassed Samsung Electronics to become the No1 supplier on the mainland.