Chromebooks, detachables, and gaming PCs boost Lenovo results
Shipments of Lenovo's detachables and convertibles, such as the Yoga 910 (pictured), grew at a double-digit premium "compared to the market".
Lenovo said that sales of Chromebooks, detachables, and gaming PCs have helped boost revenues in the fourth quarter, but the company's revenue was down for the full year.
Unveiling its fourth quarter and full-year results, the PC giant described the fiscal year ending 31 March 2017 as one of "significant transformation" and said that it "saw revenue resume to growth in the fourth quarter, after five quarters of decline".
Lenovo's chairman and CEO Yang Yuanqing said the company planned to build on its PC business by turning its mobile and data center businesses into "growth engines", while investing in cloud technologies to achieve "long term, sustainable growth".
According to analyst Gartner, Lenovo is the world's biggest PC maker. However, IDC puts Lenovo in second place, with HP occupying the top spot in the first quarter.
For the fourth financial quarter, Lenovo's revenue stood at $9.6bn, up 4.9 percent year-over-year thanks, it said, to a good performance in the PC and mobile businesses. But for the full-year ended March 31 2017, Lenovo's revenue was $43bn, down 4.2 percent year-over year.
Lenovo's PC and smart devices group, which includes PCs, tablets, and smart devices, saw Q4 sales rise 4.9 percent year-over-year to $6.7bn. Quarterly shipments grew one percent to 14.4 million, and pre-tax income for the quarter stood at $288m, a decrease of 4.7 percent year-over-year.
For the full year ended March 31 2017, the group's sales were down 2.3 percent at $30bn, while shipments stood at 66.6 million, and pre-tax income margin stood at five percent.
Lenovo said its gaming and Chromebook shipments were up 20.5 and 38.2 percent, respectively, in the fourth quarter, and detachables grew at a double-digit premium "compared to the market".
The mobile business group, which includes Motorola and Lenovo-branded smartphones, saw 19.7 percent revenue growth in the fourth fiscal quarter outside of China, with total sales of $1.7bn; shipments increased 17.4 percent to 11.3 million units outside China, said Lenovo.
Lenovo's data center group, which includes servers, storage, software, and services, saw Q4 sales fall 13.7 percent year-over-year, to $850m. For the full year, revenue decreased 10.6 percent on total sales of $4.1bn.
The company said that China accounts for 27.4 percent of its total worldwide annual sales, while Asia Pacific accounts for 16.3 percent, Europe 26 percent, and the Americas 30.3 percent.