Lenovo mobile devices outstrip PC sales Lenovo sold more mobile devices than personal computers for the first time in the three months to June 30, as the Chinese company pushes to replicate in the smartphone and tablet business its rise to world's top PC vendor. Revenue in its Mobile Internet Digital Home segment, which includes mainly smartphones and tablets, rose 105 per cent in the company's fiscal first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Smartphone shipments more than doubled while tablet shipments more than tripled, Lenovo said on Thursday. The rapid increase came as Lenovo overtook Hewlett-Packard as the world's largest PC vendor by shipments. The Chinese company accounted for 16.7 per cent of world PC shipments in the second quarter of this year, according to IDC, the research firm. Yang Yuanqing, chief executive, said Lenovo's rise to the top of the PC market had shown the company's flexibility and speed in an industry in which products have become commoditised. The smartphone and tablet markets are going through a similar transformation. We are confident that we can replicate the success in the PC market here," said Mr Yang. Lenovo beat expectations with a 23 per cent on-year increase in net profit in the fiscal first quarter to US$174m. Quarterly revenue grew 10 per cent to US$8.8bn. The greater profitability has been driven by a move into higher-end products as well as by cost cutting. But Lenovo said growth in profitability in the mobile segment could slow as it moves to expand its market share. Our China smartphone business is very healthy. Outside of China it's still in the investment phase," said Mr Yang. We will further invest in branding and channel building. According to IDC, Lenovo was the second-largest smartphone vendor in China behind Samsung Electronics and the world's fourth-largest smartphone vendor as of the second quarter. The contribution of Mobile Internet Digital Home products to the company's revenue jumped to 14 per cent in the June quarter from just 7 per cent a year ago. Lenovo declined to comment on rumours that it could acquire BlackBerry, the struggling Canadian smartphone maker that has put itself up for sale. Mr Yang said that although the company continued to aim for acquisitions when they fit into its growth ambitions, he would not comment on any particular deal.