Lenovo's transition to a "PC Plus" company continues unabated, with smartphone sales overtaking PC sales for the first time.
While sales of tablets and smartphones combined were higher than PCs in Q1 2013, sales of smartphones alone hit 15.8 million units in its first fiscal quarter of 2014 - 1.3 million more than PCs.
The massive 39 percent year-on-year upswing in Q1 2014, which ended on 30 June, makes Lenovo the fourth-largest smartphone maker in the world, reversing a fairly steep decline seen between the third and fourth quarters of 2013.
This is partly explained by the Chinese company's acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which it bought from Google in January this year.
At the time, Yuanqing Yang, Lenovo's CEO, said that the acquisition of "such an iconic brand [and] innovative product portfolio" would "immediately make Lenovo a strong global competitor in smartphones".
The company also retains its position as the world's largest PC maker, and its PC business also saw an increase, although at 14.5 million units sold it hasn't yet returned to its Q3 2013 high of 15.3 million units.
In EMEA, the company's revenue increased 49% year-on-year, hitting $2.8 billion (£1.67 billion). The company also increased its PC market share and operating margin in the region, while smartphone sales hit one million units for the first time.
Not surprisingly, Lenovo's strongest market was its home country of China, where its revenues totalled $3.8 billion in the quarter, accounting for 39 percent of its US$10.4 billion ($11.7 billion) worldwide revenue.
"This has been a quarter of milestones for Lenovo – record PC share, a number three ranking in worldwide tablets for the first time, and an even stronger number four global smartphone position," Yang said.
"As the PC industry recovers, the smartphone market continues its shift from premium to mainstream... we see even more opportunity to keep growing rapidly," he concluded.
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