HONG KONG: China’s Lenovo Group Ltd, the world’s largest personal computer (PC) maker, on Thursday said it returned to profit in a year when its PC shipments fell at a slower rate than the overall market as consumer demand continued its downward trend.
Profit reached $535 million (£412 million) in the year to March on revenue that fell 4 per cent, reversing a loss of a year prior and just missing analyst estimates.
The news sent Lenovo shares up as much as 6 per cent in Hong Kong trade.
The result comes as Lenovo navigates a PC market that has shrunk markedly since the advent of tablet computers.
According to researcher Gartner, global PC shipments fell for the 10th consecutive quarter in January-March, dipping below 63 million units for the first time since 2007.
Lenovo’s annual shipments fell 1 per cent versus a market fall of 3 per cent, with its share rising 0.4 percentage point to a record 21.4 per cent.
Revenue in its PC and smart devices unit — which makes up 70 per cent of the total — fell 2 per cent.
The company blamed the declines on transition in its smartphone and data centre businesses, as well as on a difficult macro environment and component supply constraints.— Reuters
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