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Lenovo steers Motorola to record smartphone sales

Lenovo steers Motorola to record smartphone sales

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Motorola sold more than 10 million handsets during the third quarter of 2014, marking a new company sales record, and helping to drive new owner Lenovo to increased revenues. The figures show the impact of Motorola on Chinese giant Lenovo, the largest PC manufacturer in the world, which said it planned to make one-third of its revenue from smartphone sales after it purchased Motorola from Google last year, in a deal worth $2.91 billion.

The acquisition has been beneficial for Lenovo — the company's revenue increased 31 percent during the third quarter, rising to $14.1 billion. Lenovo said it was able to beat investor expectations off the back of smartphone sales, which more than doubled. Gross profit for the quarter also rose to $2.1 billion, an increase of 54 percent year-on-year, but operating profit decreased slightly, dropping 3 percent from the same quarter last year to $325 million.

Motorola's sales figures are still dwarfed by Apple and Samsung

Importantly for Lenovo, the acquisition of Motorola gives the Chinese company a strong brand in the US and Europe. Revenue shot up in the Americas during the third quarter, rising 88 percent year-on-year, and making up 30 percent of the company's worldwide revenue. But while Motorola's sales figures mark a company record and help Lenovo boost its cash flow, the smartphone maker's sales are still dwarfed by competitors Apple and Samsung — both sold more than 70 million smartphones in the last fiscal quarter.