Lenovo Q1 Revenue Jumps 20%, Beats Estimates as PC Market Recovers

An employee gestures next to a Lenovo logo at Lenovo Tech World in Beijing, China November 15, 2019. (Reuters)
An employee gestures next to a Lenovo logo at Lenovo Tech World in Beijing, China November 15, 2019. (Reuters)
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Lenovo Q1 Revenue Jumps 20%, Beats Estimates as PC Market Recovers

An employee gestures next to a Lenovo logo at Lenovo Tech World in Beijing, China November 15, 2019. (Reuters)
An employee gestures next to a Lenovo logo at Lenovo Tech World in Beijing, China November 15, 2019. (Reuters)

China's Lenovo Group reported a 20% rise in quarterly revenue on Thursday, as the global personal computer market showed signs of recovery after a two-year slump.

For the three months ending in June, the company's revenue rose to $15.4 billion, above the average estimate of $14.1 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

This marks a third consecutive quarter of revenue growth for Lenovo after it suffered five straight quarters of revenue declines amid the post-COVID slowdown.

The global personal computer market has shown signs of recovery, with IDC data indicating a return to growth during the first quarter of this year after nearly two years of declines.

For the three months ended June, global PC shipments rose by 3% to 64.9 million units. Lenovo maintained its position as the market leader, holding a 23% market share, according to IDC.

Lenovo's shares down 0.99% in Thursday afternoon trading.

Lenovo has diversified beyond its core PC business, expanding into software and services in recent years.

The company's infrastructure solutions group, which includes servers and other hardware, grew 65% to $3 billion in revenue. Its solutions and services group grew 10% to $1.9 billion for the quarter.

Currently its non-PC business already made by 47% of its revenue mix and company chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang told Reuters in an interview that this share will grow to 50% in the near future.

Yang said a resurgence in IT spending by businesses and AI-driven demand will boost the company's business lines across the board, including PCs, servers, and enterprise software.

The PC market is being fueled by the emerging trend of "AI PCs" - computers equipped with specialized chips optimized for AI software.

Lenovo, among the first to unveil AI PCs, launched two models in May. Yang projects 10% of Lenovo's shipped PCs will be AI PCs by year-end, potentially rising to 50-60% by 2026.

The AI boom coincides with rising China-US geopolitical tensions, including restrictions on advanced AI technology exports.

Yang said Lenovo was accustomed to such challenges and complies with regulations in all operating regions, enabling it to navigate these issues.

Lenovo's net income for the quarter was $243 million, above the average estimate of $222.94 million expected by analysts polled by LSEG.



Microsoft Faces UK Lawsuit over Cloud Computing Licenses

A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
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Microsoft Faces UK Lawsuit over Cloud Computing Licenses

A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)

Microsoft faces legal action in Britain over a claim that thousands of businesses using cloud computing services provided by Amazon, Google and Alibaba could be paying higher license fees to use Windows Server software.

Competition lawyer Maria Luisa Stasi filed a case at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday, claiming that British businesses and organizations could collectively be owed more than 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion) in compensation.

"Put simply, Microsoft is punishing UK businesses and organizations for using Google, Amazon and Alibaba for cloud computing by forcing them to pay more money for Windows Server," she said.

"By doing so, Microsoft is trying to force customers into using its cloud computing service Azure and restricting competition in the sector."

Separately, Britain's competition regulator is investigating cloud computing, a market dominated by Amazon's AWS, Microsoft's Azure and, to a lesser extent, Google Cloud Platform.

Microsoft's licensing practices, for example for its Windows Server and Microsoft 365 products, are part of its inquiry.

It is due to update on its investigation imminently.

Microsoft in 2020 introduced new license fees for running its software on major cloud providers.

The claim alleges it then used the fees to induce customers to use its Azure platform.

Data from the Competition and Markets Authority published in May showed Microsoft was winning customers at a significantly higher rate than other cloud providers since it made the licensing change.

The United States Federal Trade Commission last week opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, including its cloud computing business, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The FTC is examining allegations the software giant was potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from moving from Azure to competitive platforms, sources said last month.