COMPANY BRIEFS
China’s Lenovo extends revenue growth streak, beats expectationsChina's Lenovo Group reported a 9% rise in fourth-quarter revenue to $13.8 billion on Thursday, as the world's largest maker of personal computers (PCs) exits a demand slump following the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Revenue for the January-March quarter beat an average estimate of $13 billion drawn from eight analysts, according to LSEG data.
This marks a second consecutive quarter of revenue growth for Lenovo after it suffered five straight quarters of revenue declines amid the post-COVID slowdown.
Last month, research firm IDC said the global PC market has finally returned to growth during the first quarter this year after suffering nearly two years of decline.
PC shipments grew 1.5% year over year to 59.8 million during the quarter, with Lenovo firmly holding on to the No.1 title with a 23% market share, according to IDC.
But overall, Lenovo's revenue for the year ended March 31 fell 8% to 56.9 billion, coming slightly over analysts' expectations of $56.19 billion.
Lenovo’s shares hit a 9-year peak, closing about 12% higher on Wednesday, after it unveiled two new AI PCs, a new breed of computers configured to effectively run AI applications.
Morgan Stanley analysts had said in a client note that Lenovo will likely be the main beneficiary of the AI PC boom in Asia. While AI PCs now account for just less than 5% of the market this year, about 64% of new PCs will be AI PCs by 2028, they said.
-REUTERS-
Singapore Airlines shares slip 1.3% after turbulent flight
Singapore Airlines shares fell more than 1% in early trade on Thursday, following a deadly turbulence-hit flight.
One passenger died of a suspected heart attack and dozens were injured after flight Singapore Airlines SQ321 encountered what the airline described as sudden, extreme, turbulence while flying over Myanmar on Tuesday.
Singapore markets were closed for a holiday on Wednesday and resumed trade on Thursday. Early turnover in the stock was modest and it was last down 1.3% at S$6.67 ($4.94) after dipping as far as 1.8% to S$6.64.
-REUTERS-
Some Microsoft services hit by global outage
A global outage is affecting a variety of Microsoft services, including its Bing search engine and Copilot AI tool.
Users turned to social media on Thursday to complain about the outage, which is also impacting third parties, including the search engine DuckDuckGo, which relies on Microsoft’s infrastructure.
TechCentral was unable to access Bing on Thursday morning, with the website simply warning: “Hmmm ... can’t reach this page.”
The Bing status page, which is meant to display the current status of the Bing search engine and its related services, returned the same error.
Copilot, the artificial intelligence chatbot build into Bing, was also down. The copilot.microsoft.com website was also inaccessible shortly after 10am SAST. ChatGPT, on which Copilot is based, was accessible.
Microsoft’s Azure status page, which shows issues impacting its Azure data centre infrastructure, was available but said there were “currently no active events”.
The problems appear to be impacting users worldwide.
-TECHCENTRAL-
China planemaker COMAC eyes Saudi Arabia for global expansion
Chinese planemaker COMAC is eyeing Saudi Arabia as a launch pad for its international ambitions, as the state-owned company steps up efforts to sell overseas and break into a passenger jet market dominated by Western manufacturers.
Chairman Dongfeng He visited Saudi Arabia for the first time this week, having welcomed a Saudi delegation to the company's Shanghai facilities in February, amid warming ties between the two major economies.
"COMAC envisions enhancing global connectivity and diversity by contributing to Saudi Arabia's aviation transportation development," He told an aviation conference in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Aviation industry sources, however, caution that COMAC is a long way from making inroads internationally, especially without benchmark certifications from the United States or European Union, or more efficient planes.
COMAC's planes fly almost exclusively within China and with one Indonesian airline, and the company, founded in 2008, is looking for international customers.
It recently showcased its planes around Southeast Asia, and is pursuing certification with Europe's aviation regulator for its C919 narrow-body jet.
During He's visit, Saudia Group, owner of Saudia airline and budget carrier flyadeal, said it invited COMAC to set up an assembly line in Jeddah, confirming to Reuters a report in The National newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates.
-REUTERS-