Top PC brands seek external revenue with smart car tech

Lenovo Group Ltd will expand its metaverse and smart driving services, as the world's top PC market vendor aims to develop a "second growth line" in addition to its personal computer business.

Lenovo posted unexpected net profit growth in the third quarter, despite the global PC market sale decrease of almost 20 percent. Its business growth mainly comes from non-PC business.

The company will find a "second growth line," adapting to a changing environment and demands with digital transformation and industry structure upgrades, Chairman Yang Yuanqing said during Lenovo TechWorld, Lenovo's annually new-tech releasing event, held this week.

Business executives including Baidu's CEO Robin Li, and leaders of carmaker Geely and Chery were invited to give speak at TechWorld.

Lenovo announced its joining of Baidu's metaverse platform Xi Rang, and its expansion into "in-vehicle computing." It covers smart cabin and autonomous driving computing sectors, but is not making cars directly, Yang said.

In the third quarter, Lenovo posted a net profit of 3.7 billion yuan (US$514 million), a 5.7-percent growth year on year, beating analyst expectations of a profit decrease.

Comparatively, global PC market sales decreased by almost 20 percent in the quarter. The top vendors were Lenovo, HP and Dell, said researchers including Gartner and Canalys.

Lenovo's non-PC business, accounting for 37 percent of its total revenue, grew rapidly, with the solutions-and-services group growing 29 percent, and IT system management gaining 69 percent growth. The data-center business, which lost money in the previous quarters, turned profitability in the third quarter.