Lenovo Says It Will Not Phase Out Its Own Phone Brand

Lenovo Group chairman and chief executive Yang Yuanqing told Reuters on Thursday the company's China business reorganisation will not affect its mobile business on the mainland.

Yang, speaking after the company reported a return to profit for the year to March, said the company will keep its Lenovo-Motorola dual-brand strategy for it mobile business despite a widening loss.

"We will never phase out Lenovo," Yang said.

PC competition took a step up this week when China's largest mobile phone maker, Huawei said it would enter the market for premium consumer models.

Lenovo also competes with Huawei in mobile, which accounts for 18 percent of its revenue. The business' loss widened to $566 million (roughly Rs. 3,653 crores) last year from $469 million a year prior on a 10 percent drop in revenue to $7.7 billion (roughly Rs. 49,692 crores), though Lenovo said the business had strong growth in markets outside China, especially Latin America and Western Europe.

© Thomson Reuters 2017