Lenovo doubles mobile device sales

Lenovo has recently diversified into smartphones and tablet PCs to help boost growth

Lenovo, the world's biggest maker of PCs, has reported a 23% jump in profits as sales of mobile devices doubled.

Net profit was a better-than-expected $174m (£112m) in the April-to-June period, up from $141m a year earlier, Lenovo said in a statement.

Lenovo overtook Hewlett-Packard to become the top PC maker this year.

However, as global PC sales decline, the company has aggressively expanded into smartphones, tablets and other mobile products.

The firm's shares rose 2.4% in early trade in Hong Kong.

Beating the trend

Lenovo said it had outperformed the global PC market, which saw sales fall 11% during the period, from a year earlier. Lenovo's desktop PC shipments were flat compared with the previous year.

However, for the first time, Lenovo's combined sales of smartphone and tablets overtook its PC sales during this quarter.

Sales of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices more than doubled from the same period last year.

According to the firm, it is now the second-biggest smartphone seller in China, with shipments increasing by 121% from last year. Lenovo has said it is also expanding into other emerging markets.

It beat ZTE to become the world's fourth-largest smartphone firm in the April-to-June period, behind Apple, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, according to research firm IDC.

Laptop sales, which Lenovo said account for 53% of its revenue, rose by 4.7%.