Lenovo shares fall 10% on poor quarterly revenues
The world's largest personal computer-maker Lenovo saw shares plunge by more than 10% after it reported that quarterly revenues fell for the first time in more than six years.
The Chinese company said revenue fell by 8% in the three months ending in December because of slowing demand for its smartphones and computers. However, Lenovo logged a better-than-expected quarterly profit of $300m. Analysts had expected it to fall to around $243m. Lenovo's chairman Yang Yuanqing said in a statement that its results "were impacted by the global macro-economic slowdown, currency fluctuations in key markets, and PC market decline". Lenovo gets more than half of its revenue from computers but has been looking to diversify its business as the global PC market shrinks. The firm bought Motorola Mobility from Google in 2014 for $2.9bn, making it the world's third-largest smartphone maker. That business has yet to make a profit but Lenovo has remained optimistic about its potential in emerging markets such as Brazil and India. "In mobile, we will build scale and efficiency to accelerate our growth in emerging markets, breakthrough in mature markets with innovative products and premium brands, and expand in the open market in China with a stronger product portfolio," Mr Yang said. Lenovo has also undertaken an aggressive cost-cutting plan that will see more than 3000 jobs eliminated.