Lenovo sets its sights on AI, says chairman

Lenovo Group will double down on its push into artificial intelligence after it resumes year-on-year revenue growth performance driven by the resilience of core business and the effectiveness of transformation.

The world's largest personal computer manufacturer said its revenue in the quarter that ended in December increased 3 percent year-on-year to $15.7 billion, with profitability improving quarter-to-quarter for the second time in a row.

Net income was $357 million on a non-Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards basis, with net income margin up 0.4 percent quarter-to-quarter to 2.3 percent.

Lenovo said its diversified growth engines continued to deliver strong performance, with revenue from non-PC businesses accounting for 42 percent of the company's overall revenue, up 1.3 percentage points year-on-year.

Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo, said "Last quarter, we delivered on our promise and resumed year-on-year revenue growth, driven by both the resilience of our core businesses and the effectiveness of the service-led transformation."

"Looking ahead, our commitment to AI innovation, our pocket-to-cloud computing capabilities, full-stack portfolio of smart devices, smart infrastructure, smart solutions and services, combined with our partnerships with other key leaders in AI, will ensure that we are well-positioned to capture the tremendous opportunities in AI," Yang said.

He said Lenovo is capitalizing on the significant growth opportunities brought by the AI era. In particular, the emerging trend of hybrid AI is directly driving the demand for AI PCs, a trend that will stimulate another industry refreshing cycle as users require devices designed for more creativity and productivity.

Alongside devices, hybrid AI is driving increased demand for hybrid infrastructure and customer demand for AI-native applications, solutions and services such as advisory, design, development and maintenance – fueling growth across multiple customer verticals, Lenovo said.

To further build its unique position in the AI era, Lenovo is continuing its investment commitments in innovation. Research and development headcount is up year-to-year at more than 25 percent of its overall headcount, with R&D expenses-to-revenue ratio for the full fiscal year on track to hit an all-time high, Lenovo added.