Lenovo Reports Record Profits, Seems Positive About Windows 8’s Future

Doom and gloom. That’s all we here about Windows 8, Microsoft and everyone who is relying heavily on the company, right? Well in a nice change of pace, Lenovo is here to report its record high profits and revenues for the last three months of 2012.

According to Lenovo, the company managed a revenue of $9.4 billion, up 12% from the same period the year before. As for net profit, that was $205 million, up 34 percent from the same time period the year before.

So what, right? Lenovo doesn’t do just Windows PCs. They recently announced a Chromebook offering, they have tons of Android tablets and smartphones. Their gains could very likely have NOTHING to do with Windows 8. Except that’s not necessarily true.

Lenovo managed to ship 14.1 million PCs during the 4th quarter, up 7.6 percent. Overall, PC shipments went down in the last quarter of 2012 for all brands, something many blame on the radical changes of Windows 8. So why was Lenovo any different here? Honestly, I think it has a lot to do with Lenovo’s offerings compared to competitors.

Lenovo had tons of Windows 8 products ready in 2012, and many more for early this year as well. They have released convertibles, ultrabooks, tablets and a bunch of other great hardware. At least in my opinion, Lenovo had one of the most exciting and envelope-pushing Windows 8 hardware selections out there, and their increased sales seem to back this up.

Windows 8 is a great OS, but it is different, and that means that many traditional PCs don’t give off as great of an experience with Windows 8 as touch-centric unique designs do. In general, Lenovo seems quite optimistic about Windows 8, even if they have reached out to Chrome OS as well.

Here’s what Lenovo’s CEO Yang Yuanqing had to say about Windows 8, “New technologies like Windows 8, ultrabooks, and convertibles will drive new demand. 2013 will be better than 2012.” Overall his tune was positive, and his company seems to understand more than anyone else that Windows 8 is a long-term strategy, not something that was meant to be an instant hit.

Acer has taken to a game of blaming Microsoft’s Windows 8 and the Surface for continually declining PC sales, while Lenovo set all of that aside and simply pushed innovation and design forward– regardless of any hurdles that might get in the way. I don’t know about all my readers, but I am continually impressed by Lenovo in recent years.

I have always been a fan of IBM PCs, and I was originally a bit annoyed when Lenovo bought the division all those years back. Now I’m quite glad things worked out the way they did. Guess IBM knew what they were doing with that sale after all.

What do you think of Lenovo’s Windows 8 efforts and overall approach compared to other Windows hardware partners? Share your thoughts below.

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