Chinese electronics giant Lenovo has claimed that its low-cost, high-volume smartphone business in emerging markets is profitable, with a senior executive also revealing the company is interested in purchasing Research in Motion’s BlackBerry hardware business.
According to The Wall Street Journal, chief financial officer Wong Wai Ming revealed the company is turning a profit from its smartphone business in China during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“Just a couple of months in, the numbers are good, but from a very low base,” Wong said.
“We go into China, get enough volume to make money, then go into other markets.”
As SmartCompany reported in November, Lenovo is China’s second largest smartphone vendor behind Samsung, claiming 13% of the market.
As of the middle of last year, China has overtaken the US as the world’s largest market for smartphones. The country accounts for 50 million smartphone sales a quarter, representing more than a quarter of the 181.1 million smartphones sold worldwide during the third quarter of 2012.
According to Tech Radar, Wong also revealed Lenovo could be interested in a takeover of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry hardware division.
“We are looking at all opportunities – RIM and many others. We’ll have no hesitation if the right opportunity comes along that could benefit us and shareholders,” Wong said.
The news comes less than a week after SmartCompany reported RIM chief executive Thorsten Heins confirmed the troubled smartphone giant is considering selling its hardware business following the launch of its next-generation BlackBerry 10 devices next week.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
