(Yicai) Feb. 23 -- All of Lenovo Group’s businesses will be reshaped by artificial intelligence, according to the chief executive officer of the Chinese personal computer giant.

Lenovo will step up its efforts to push into AI, Yang Yuanqing said yesterday after the release of the Beijing-based firm’s earnings report for the December quarter.

“Our commitment to AI innovation, our pocket-to-cloud computing capabilities, full-stack portfolio of smart devices, smart infrastructure, smart solutions, and services, combined with our partnerships with other key leaders in AI, will ensure that we are well-positioned to capture the tremendous opportunities in AI,” he said.

Lenovo will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year, Yang noted, adding that he has experienced several industry changes over the years.

One shift was in the 1990s when computers went from commercial to personal use, and another was in 2000 with the arrival of one-click internet access, driving the popularity of the internet, Yang said.

“The third opportunity is that the popularization of AI PCs will lead to the popularization of AI,” he said.

The price of AI PCs in terms of chip computing power is quite high, and companies have also invested a lot in the software ecosystem, said Liu Jun, executive vice president and president of Lenovo China. This makes the price of AI PCs higher than that of standard units, but the firm is working with manufacturers upstream in the supply chain to launch more affordable products, he added.

Liu also revealed that Lenovo aims to launch an AI PC that will cost from USD1,000 to USD1,500 at the annual Lenovo Tech World in April. 

Lenovo’s net profit jumped 35 percent to USD337 million in the three months ended Dec. 31 from a quarter earlier but fell 23 percent year on year, it said in the financial report. Revenue rose 3 percent to USD15.7 billion from a year earlier, the first gain in one and a half years.

“Last quarter, we delivered on our promise and resumed year-on-year revenue growth, driven by both the resilience of our core businesses and the effectiveness of the service-led transformation,” said Yang.

“We’re very confident that the growth trend will continue,” he added. “Lenovo continues to grow its operating income in the new fiscal year and has the opportunity to deliver margin growth and margin improvement.”

According to the report, generative AI products have begun contributing to Lenovo’s growth. However, developing new projects has high costs and investments, weighing on its profitability and resulting in an operating loss of USD38 million.

Editor: Martin Kadiev