Lenovo is hoping to turn its mobile business profitable by the end of the year.
Lenovo has posted its financial results for the quarter ending December 31, 2016 (third fiscal quarter). The Chinese manufacturer netted $12.2 billion in revenue, a decline of 6% from the same period a year ago. Net profit at $98 million was 67% less than the 300 million it posted this time last year, and a decrease of 37% from a quarter ago.
Lenovo saw a sharp downturn in profits and revenue even as it managed to sell more devices than the preceding quarter. With 15 million smartphones sold, Lenovo saw a 7% increase in sales to $2.2 billion. The company’s Motorola brand continues to perform well, witnessing a quarterly sales increase of 20%. The Moto G line also saw a 12% YoY boost, largely aided by a healthy 23% increase in sales from Latin America. Lenovo also gained ground in India, where it now has a market share of 9.9%.
While Lenovo managed to sell more smartphones than the previous quarter, its YoY performance doesn’t make for inspired reading. Sales declined by 26%, and the mobile unit posted an operating loss of $112 million. Despite the downturn, Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said that the mobile unit is a “core business,” and that it is on course to become profitable by the end of the year.
One way of doing that is to launch new products, and Lenovo is doing just that by accelerating the launch window of the Moto G series, with the Moto G5 and G5 Plus slated to make their debut later this month at Mobile World Congress.
