- AI boom fuels Lenovo business
The world's largest PC manufacturer, Lenovo, is benefiting from the AI boom in data centers. In the last quarter, the revenue of the infrastructure division of the Chinese company increased by almost two-thirds year-on-year to $3.2 billion (€2.9 billion). The figures for the PC division also indicate a recovery in the market, which had slumped after explosive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lenovo and other PC manufacturers are betting that the replacement of notebooks bought during the pandemic with newer devices is gradually approaching. At the beginning of the pandemic, companies and consumers rushed to buy laptops to enable working and learning from home. Whether as many replacement devices will be purchased remains an open question.
"AI PCs" are on the rise
The Windows company Microsoft and computer manufacturers like Lenovo launched their first new PC models in mid-June, which are particularly suitable for the use of artificial intelligence software. The industry expects that in a few years, such "AI PCs" will make up the majority of sold devices. However, this device class had hardly any impact on business in the last quarter.
Nevertheless, the revenue of the PC division increased by around ten percent to $11.4 billion. In Germany, where the company also sells devices under the Medion brand, consumer business decreased again. Consumers are still waiting for innovations, said Lenovo manager Mirco Krebs. However, corporate demand continues to grow.
Worldwide, Lenovo expanded its lead over HP and Dell with 17.4 million sold PCs and a market share of almost 23 percent, according to calculations by the analysis firm IDC. The Lenovo Group's revenue increased by a fifth to $15.4 billion. Profit jumped 38 percent to $243 million, surpassing analysts' expectations.
Computers like the new AI-focused models launched by Microsoft and Lenovo are expected to become the majority of sold devices in a few years. This shift towards AI PCs hasn't significantly impacted sales yet, as shown by Lenovo's PC division revenue increase of around 10% in the last quarter.
