The world number two PC manufacturer Lenovo has seen its sales jump by 37% during its last fiscal year, to $ 29.6 billion. It comes just over a giant HP, which will publish its quarterly results this evening.
The contrast is striking. While yesterday Dell published disappointing results of computer sales, Chinese Lenovo continues its inexorable rise.
The world number two PC again refreshed all records at the end of the 2011-2012 fiscal year (ended March 31), its figures were released this morning. In one year, sales jumped 37% to $ 29.6 billion. Net income increased 73% to $ 473 million. Although the level of profitability is lower than the average American manufacturers, with an operating margin of 2%.
In an ailing PC market, in competition with the success of new devices such as tablets, including the Apple iPad, Lenovo continues to experience exceptional growth in sales. They still have increased by 35% (by volume) last year, representing a growth rate ten times higher than world market. The Chinese computer giant was pleased last year to the Dell’s second largest computer manufacturer in the world, with a market share of 12.9% according to IDC. Lenovo now eyeing the first place, owned for many years by American HP.
China became the first global PC market last year, which remains one of the key growth drivers of the group, with a 24% increase in turnover over the year. Lenovo will show a growth rate twice of the market. The operating margin was 4.5%. The leaders have entrusted their intention to accelerate the increase in profitability in the domestic market.
Performance in developed countries is also important, for the first time with a market share above 10% in this zone. The successive acquisitions in 2011 of German Medion and PC division of the Japanese NEC obviously contributed to the growth of the group. In the U.S., sales have jumped 26%.
The breakthrough in Lenovo’s mobile devices is also accelerating. Tablets and smartphones now account for nearly 6% of total turnover (in the last quarter, January to March). Products are currently only available in China. But Lenovo is already a major player in these segments. Its market, the software giant already totals 9.5% of sales of smartphones, and became the second vendor shelves, behind Apple. There is already plans to construct to develop outside of China and repeat the performance in the PC. The challenge may be more complicated.