Popularizing tech the Chinese way

A similar thing happened after Lenovo acquired Motorola Mobility from Google Inc for $2.9 billion in 2014. Though it cost some time for Lenovo to fully absorb the impact of the merger, the company's mobile business, which includes smartphones, has finally become profitable for four consecutive quarters.

"In Latin America, we are running at between 18 and 20 percent market share, and in the US, we have seen about 5-percent year-on-year growth and 15-percent quarter-on-quarter growth in terms of activation, and both of them are very profitable. Now, the next step is really how we can continue to grow and maintain profitable growth," Lanci said.

The company will step up investment in Europe, with focus on four to five countries, including the UK and Italy, to drive sales of its smartphones in the region. It will also intensify resource deployment in emerging markets, including some Asia-Pacific countries.

"We can leverage our sound PC infrastructure in these countries for mobile phones," Lanci said.

In the quarter ended September 2019, Lenovo posted $13.5 billion in revenue, marking its ninth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth. The company's net income also increased 20 percent year-on-year to $202 million.

Lenovo's good performance in the PC business, and emerging returns from new businesses are encouraging it to press ahead with its transformation into a software and services provider.

From July to September, Lenovo shipped 17.3 million units of PCs worldwide, growing 7.1 percent year-on-year and grabbing a global market share of 24.6 percent, according to data from market research company IDC.

"Commercial demand (for PCs) should accelerate as enterprises work through the remainder of their Windows 10 migration," IDC research vice-president Linn Huang said in a statement.

Lenovo's Lanci predicted that the global PC market is likely to remain relatively flat or record slight growth in 2020. As the Windows 10 refresh cycle in the commercial market will continue to contribute to the gain, the sector will likely continue to face a shortage in CPU supplies, he said.

According to Lenovo, although global trade and geopolitical uncertainties persist, they continue to have a negligible material impact on the financial performance of the company.

"Lenovo has always been a beneficiary and promoter of globalization. We have always promoted the integration of globalization and localization with an attitude of openness and cooperation. Lenovo firmly supports the rule-based global economic and trade relations," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo.