Lenovo outgrows rivals with Q3 results

Chinese vendor hails seventh quarter of market-beating growth and plans to invest even more in brand innovation

Lenovo said it grew faster than any of the top five PC manufacturers for the seventh quarter in a row as it posted its Q3 2011 results.

The Chinese PC maker recorded its highest-ever market share in China of 32.2 per cent and hung onto its global market share position of 10.2 per cent.

Turnover for the quarter hit $5.8bn (£3.6bn), a 22 per cent increase on the $4.760bn posted in Q3 2010. Pre-tax profit increased 29 per cent to $121m, compared with $94m in Q3 2010.

During Q3, Lenovo’s global PC shipments increased 20.6 per cent year on year, compared with an industry growth rate of 3.4 per cent. The vendor also has net cash reserves of $3.2bn and recently announced a joint venture with NEC in Japan, which will form the largest PC group in the country.

Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of Lenovo, said: “The board is satisfied with Lenovo’s performance in this quarter in all aspects of measurement. For the fifth consecutive quarter, Lenovo has continued to be the fastest growing among the top five PC manufacturers globally. Volume, revenue, cost and expense, and pre-tax income targets were all delivered. The outstanding result indicates that the strategy of Protect-Attack and balanced development has shown its effect.”

“While driving for business momentum, Lenovo will further increase investment in brand building and product development. I believe that today’s investment will bring good return to our shareholders in future. One of the keys to our success is that we are building a winning culture at Lenovo, and our success in the marketplace is a direct result of that effort,” Liu added.

Chief executive Yang Yuanquing added: “By executing our ‘Protect and Attack’ strategy, we were able to grow across all regions, product types and customer segments. Our core PC business continues to deliver balanced growth. At the same time, we saw great momentum in our mobile internet business which doubled the sales of the Lenovo smartphone from the previous quarter.

"This growth was driven by investments in marketing, product development and the creation of a new, more focused Mobile Internet and Digital Home business group. Looking forwards, we will invest in building our global brand, driving more product innovation and creating an even more efficient end-to-end business model. Based on this, we are confident we can continue to outgrow the market and deliver strong results across our business.”