Chinese manufacturer Lenovo saw its net profit grow 29% for the business year ended March, as solid smartphone sales helped combat weak growth in its domestic market of China.
Lenovo’s expansion in to the smartphone sector, and away from its traditional role as a PC manufacturer, was marked by its acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google for the sum of $2.9 billion in January.
Net profit totalled $817.2 million and revenue rose 14.3 percent to $38.7 billion, Lenovo said in a statement today.
Overall weakness in China was offset by growth outside Lenovo’s home market – particularly Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the Americas – as well as a surge in the company’s mobile Internet unit, home to its smartphone business.
“Lenovo’s smartphone unit shipments achieved a record-high level of over 50 million for the fiscal year, growing by 72 percent year-on-year, driven by the strong growth in China and emerging markets outside of China,” the company said in the statement.
China remains Lenovo’s largest market, however, accounting for almost two-fifths of revenue.
Jumps in sales in other regions included a 27.1 percent rise in sales in the EMEA region and 31.1 percent in the Americas. The mobile Internet and digital home business unit saw an 86.1 percent rise to $5.7 billion.
Going forward, analysts are pessimistic regarding further growth for the firm, citing intensified competition from Samsung and Apple.
Source
