Computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. based in China, is on its way to claiming the top spot in personal computer manufacturing in the world. The company also reported a record profit for its recently ended third quarter.
The profit was 33% higher for the quarter that ended December 31, 2012 than the same quarter a year earlier. The Chinese computer maker gained much more market share for PCs and made large inroads in the smartphone business.
Lenovo is the maker of ThinkPad and is now China’s second largest vendor of smartphones. On Wednesday, the company announced that net profits were $205 million, which beat Wall Street estimates of only $178 million. The market share Lenovo has taken was accomplished very quickly and helped by acquisitions that have been made in the last few years. Only Hewlett-Packard remains in front of Lenovo for shipments of PC units.
However, there are new challenges on the horizon for Lenovo as computer makers Asustek along with Acer start to roll out new tablets and computers that are even less expensive and aggressively market the products to specific target markets such as China, where Lenovo has traditionally held a stronghold.
Revenue for Lenovo was up to $9.4 billion or an increase of 12%. In 2012, shares of Lenovo jumped 36%, while the rest of the Hang Seng only enjoyed an average gain of 23%.
