As memory prices squeeze enterprise buyers, Lenovo laughs all the way to the bank

Summary

Personal Tech As memory prices squeeze enterprise buyers, Lenovo laughs all the way to the bank Switch to premium devices pays off as PC giant post record record, just don't ask about cheap laptops PC buyers may be wincing at memory price hikes, but Lenovo isn't. The China-based tech biz says it sidestepped much of the industry pain by switching to premium devices and the numbers back it up. For Q4 of its fiscal 2026 ended March 31, Lenovo's Intelligent Devices Group posted revenue of $14.6 billion, up from $11.9 billion a year earlier. It reported operating profit - net profit was not disclosed - of just over $1 billion, up 20.7 percent. PC and smart devices revenues, specifically, grew 26 percent. “Last quarter, despite the supply shortages and rising component costs, we committed to sustaining growth and improving profitability, leveraging our operational excellence,” CEO Yang Yuanqing said on an earnings call. “We promised to maintain our PC revenue momentum despite a slowdown in PC shipments due to rising costs. We delivered. We shifted our mix towards premium to improve average unit revenue, and our PC shipment growth continued to outperform the market,” he stated. PCs accounted for half of Lenovo's overall group turnover, shipments were up 20 percent year-on-year and the corporation accounted for 24.4 percent global market share. Servers and services comprised the rest of Lenovo's revenues.The memory crunch has been brutal. Some DRAM and NAND flash prices doubled or quadrupled by early this year, as chipmakers chased higher margins on AI server memory and starved the consumer market of supply. The Register has previously reported how the price hikes led to a spike in PC sales, as corporate buyers brought forward purchases before memory costs climbed any further.Asked whether this had any effect on Lenovo’s numbers, EVP for Intelligent Devices Luca Rossi downplayed it. “So in calendar Q1, our last fiscal Q4, we definitely observed strong demand, which might pa...