China’s Lenovo Group, the world’s largest PC maker, has warned that a growing memory-chip shortage is putting pressure on global PC shipments. The shortage is being driven by strong demand for chips used in artificial intelligence systems.

Speaking after the company released its third-quarter results, CEO Yang Yuanqing said Lenovo has raised PC prices to deal with rising memory costs and is also speeding up its move into the fast-growing AI inference market (AI systems that run trained models in real-world use).

Yang said PC unit sales may come under pressure, but Lenovo still expects to grow revenue and remain profitable.

Quarterly Results

For the third quarter, Lenovo reported:

• Revenue: $22.2 billion — up 18% year-on-year and higher than analyst expectations of $20.6 billion

• Net profit: $546 million — down 21% year-on-year

Profit fell mainly because of a $285 million restructuring charge. The restructuring is aimed at sharpening Lenovo’s focus on AI inference and is expected to reduce costs by up to $200 million over three years.

When excluding one-time and non-cash items, adjusted net profit rose 36% to $589 million.

Business Segment Performance

• Lenovo’s PC, tablet, and smartphone division — which makes up about 70% of total revenue — saw revenue rise 14.3%.

• Its digital infrastructure group, which includes AI servers, grew 31% in revenue but posted a small operating loss of $11 million due to heavy investment in expanding AI capabilities.

The company said its AI server business achieved strong double-digit growth, supported by demand for large AI systems and rack-scale solutions based on Nvidia’s GB200 platform.

AI Strategy Shift

Yang said AI demand is now shifting from model training to AI inference, where trained models are deployed and used. Lenovo is adjusting its server products to target this growing AI infrastructure market, which it expects will triple by 2028.

In January, Lenovo introduced new enterprise servers designed for AI inference workloads in partnership with AMD.

Overall, Lenovo says chip shortages and higher memory prices are creating challenges for PC makers, but it aims to offset the impact through price increases and expansion in AI infrastructure.