AI Broke the PC Ceiling
Who Says the PC Industry Has Hit a Ceiling?
Record Growth in Global PC Shipments
According to IDC data, in Q3 2025:
- Global PC shipments: 75.9 million units
- Year-over-year growth: +9.4%
- Fourth consecutive quarter of YoY growth
Not only is the overall market expanding, but the market leader’s share is also growing.
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Lenovo’s Breakthrough Performance
From Lenovo’s Q2 FY2025/26 (calendar Q3 2025) results:
- PC market share reached 25% for the first time in a single quarter
- Total revenue: RMB 146.4 billion — a quarterly record
- Adjusted net profit: RMB 3.66 billion (+25% YoY)
- AI-related revenue disclosed for the first time: 30% of total
Interpretation: For a traditional hardware origin company, these AI-driven results signal a new paradigm. The PC’s role in the AI era needs reevaluation.
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Lenovo’s Three Main Business Segments
| Segment | Revenue (RMB) | YoY Growth | Share of Group Revenue | Key Notes |
|---------------------------------------|---------------|------------|------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Intelligent Devices Group (IDG) | 108.1B | +12% | 73.8% | Core PC and smart device business |
| Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) | 29.3B | +24% | — | Fastest growth, driven by AI infrastructure demand |
| Solutions & Services Group (SSG) | 9.0B | +18% | — | 18 straight quarters of double-digit growth; margin > 22% |
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PC Leadership & Profitability
Highlights:
- Global PC shipment leader
- 25% global market share — 5.7 points ahead of second place
- Windows AI PC market share: 31.1%
- Adjusted net profit growth (+25%) outpaced revenue growth
- Gross margin: 15.4% (slightly down from 15.7%)
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Supply Shortages: Lenovo’s Edge
Industry concerns: Rising storage prices and shortages could pressure margins.
Lenovo’s response (Yang Yuanqing, Chairman & CEO):
- Shortages may last up to a year
- Impact will be contained due to two factors:
- Global market coverage: Customers in 180 markets
- Scale advantage: Strong bargaining power in supply chain
Additional strengths:
- Long-term supplier contracts
- Gartner rankings: #8 globally / #1 in Asia for supply chain
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Continued Innovation & R&D
- R&D spend: RMB 4.1 billion (+6% YoY)
- Focus: AI, liquid cooling, intelligent agents
PCs remain Lenovo’s core pillar, with AI opening new growth horizons.
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Industry Context: AI + PC = New Cycle
Historical adaptation cycles:
- DOS era — work tools
- Windows era — Internet gateway
- Mobile era — productivity hub
- AI era — local intelligent agents
Gartner forecast: AI PCs = 31% of shipments by 2025
Unit price premium: 5%–10% above traditional models
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Lenovo’s AI-Driven Growth
AI Revenue & Strategy
- AI revenue: 30% of group total (↑ 13pp YoY)
- AI performance by category:
- AI PCs: 2.8M units, 30% notebook share in China
- AI smartphones: All-time high sales (Motorola)
- AI tablets: +157% YoY sales
- AI servers: Order surge, high double-digit revenue growth
- AI services: Triple-digit growth
Strategy: Hybrid AI — computing distributed across device, edge, and cloud.
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"One Body, Multi-Device" Approach
One Body = Tianxi AI — Lenovo’s personal super intelligent agent
- Version 3.5: Transition from device AI → personal AI
- Four modules: Generative UI, Personal brain, Ecosystem skills, Trusted security
Multi-Device = AI PCs, smartphones, tablets, wearables — all linked via Tianxi AI
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Enterprise AI Leadership
- AI infrastructure: Strong demand
- Liquid cooling: Neptune tech +154% YoY revenue
- AI services:
- Industries: manufacturing, retail, sports events
- Launch: LeXiang Super Intelligent Agent
- 1M+ weekly active users
- RMB 1.8 B revenue
- LeXiang One humanoid robot equipped with agent
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Outlook
AI Market Views
- Yang Yuanqing: AI is entering "value realization phase"
- Hybrid AI = fastest route to environmental intelligence
AI PC Projections
- Global PC market growth: 5%–10% sustainable
- China AI PC share: From 27% (Q2 FY) → 35% (Q4 FY)
Conclusion: Lenovo is entering a higher-quality, structurally sound growth cycle in sync with the broader PC + AI super cycle.
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Role of Open Ecosystems in AI Adoption
Platforms like AiToEarn官网 empower creators to:
- Generate AI content
- Publish across multiple platforms
- Measure analytics via AI model rankings
- Monetize creativity efficiently
Implication: As hardware becomes AI-enabled, content monetization ecosystems will enhance user and enterprise ROI in the AI era.
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Summary:
The "PC market ceiling" belief is being dismantled by sustained shipment growth and AI-driven innovation. Lenovo, through its Hybrid AI and "One Body, Multi-Device" strategy, shows how PCs can evolve into intelligent agents with multi-device collaboration — marking the start of a new, AI-powered super cycle.
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Do you want me to create a short executive summary table at the start so C-level readers can absorb all key metrics in 30 seconds? That would make this report more boardroom-ready.
