Lenovo reports profits higher than expected
Updated: 2013-11-08 09:28"Competitors such as Samsung entered the China market a long time ago, but because Lenovo is focusing on growth in the mid- and low-end markets, the distance among other brands is set to narrow," said Liu Jun, head of Lenovo's consumer electronics business.
Lenovo sold more smartphones priced under 2,000 yuan ($320) than Samsung in the Chinese market, said Liu.
China is the world's biggest smartphone market. It accounted for 39 percent of the global smartphone market as of September, data from Canalys revealed on Wednesday.
Lenovo posted the largest annual increase among the leading smartphone vendors, according to an IDC report.
"The company relied on its stronghold in the Asia-Pacific region and particularly in China, where the overwhelming majority of its smartphones went," the report added.
Lenovo has also made progress in other markets, pushing into Latin America and emerging markets in Southeast Asia.
"We will speed expansion in more emerging markets in the Middle East and Latin America through innovation," said Yang.
"Hardware making is a prominent advantage for Lenovo, but we are still looking to integrate hardware with software and applications in order to make the next-generation devices," he added.
The company said it is looking for acquisition targets for all its product lines and M&As in the smartphone sector will be the company's top task, said Wong Wai Ming, chief financial officer of Lenovo.
Earlier media reports indicated Lenovo was actively courting the drowning Canadian cell phone maker BlackBerry Ltd. BlackBerry said on Wednesday it will no longer be available for sale.
In addition, Yang estimated global demand for PCs will rebound by the end of 2014 boosted by the global enterprise-level market and growing orders from China.