Lenovo Group (聯想), the world’s fourth-largest personal computer maker, rebounded to a quarterly profit from a loss a year earlier, driven by strong sales in China and other emerging markets.
Profit was US$55 million for the three months ending June 30, or US$0.54 per share, compared with a US$16 million loss last year, the company said yesterday.
Global sales surged 50 percent from a year ago to US$5.1 billion, boosted by a 50 percent rise in China. Lenovo said sales in other emerging markets doubled, while its global market share rose to double digits for the first time, reaching 10.2 percent.
PHOTO: AFP
“We achieved great results across the world last quarter, with all of our regions outgrowing the market,” CEO Yang Yuanqing (楊元慶) told a conference call.
Global demand is recovering, though mature markets have yet to emerge fully from the global crisis, he said.
“Global commercial replacement demand is gradually recovering,” he said. “Emerging markets still offer growth opportunities we can leverage.”
Chairman Liu Chuanzhi (柳傳志) said the company would spend more on research and development to maintain its profit margins.
“In the next few years, Lenovo will work on maintaining sustainable and stable fast growth, rather than just generating extremely high profits in the short term,” Liu said.
Lenovo acquired IBM’s PC unit in 2005 and expanded into wireless computing this year, launching its Lephone smartphone and two Web-linked computers in January.
Yang said Lenovo sold about 100,000 Lephones in the quarter, though a lack of panels held down sales volume.
He said the company was dealing with the shortage and should be able to sell 1 million units within the phone’s first year.
“The mobile Internet is growing, and it will create new categories and business models,” Yang said.
In China, overall sales rose to US$2.5 billion, accounting for 48.7 percent of worldwide sales, the company said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source