Lenovo has warned that tightening global memory supply could slow PC shipments this year, even as the company reported stronger quarterly revenue, highlighting how component shortages continue to shape hardware production across the broader technology industry.
Chief executive Yang Yuanqing told Reuters that Lenovo expects PC unit sales to face pressure due to rising memory costs, underscoring mounting concern that constrained RAM availability may limit shipment volumes despite steady end-user demand.
Lenovo reported third-quarter revenue of $22.2 billion, representing an 18% year-over-year increase, while adjusted net profit rose 36% to $589 million, although reported net profit fell 21% to $546 million following a restructuring charge.
Lenovo’s core PC, tablet, and smartphone division generated roughly 70% of total revenue and recorded a 14.3% sales increase, but executives acknowledged that memory shortages are creating operational strain across hardware planning and pricing decisions.
Yang confirmed that Lenovo has raised prices to offset higher memory costs, reflecting a broader industry trend in which manufacturers pass component inflation to customers when supply constraints tighten across DRAM and NAND markets.
Memory constraints and AI demand
Industry analysts have linked current memory scarcity to growing allocation toward artificial intelligence infrastructure, where data centre deployments increasingly consume high-bandwidth and high-capacity modules that would otherwise support consumer hardware production.
Lenovo’s digital infrastructure group posted 31% revenue growth, although it recorded an operating loss of $11 million, as the company invested heavily in expanding AI server capabilities to capture enterprise demand.
The company reported high double-digit growth in its AI server business, supported by rack-scale systems based on Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72 platform, signalling a strategic shift toward inference-focused infrastructure rather than traditional PC growth alone.
Yang indicated that AI demand is moving from large language model training to inference workloads, prompting Lenovo to adjust its server portfolio and collaborate with partners including AMD on new enterprise systems.
Broader market implications
Lenovo’s warning suggests that even the world’s largest PC manufacturer cannot fully shield shipments from semiconductor volatility, particularly when memory supply tightens across multiple end markets simultaneously.
The company expects the global AI infrastructure market to triple by 2028, but PC shipment trends will depend on how quickly memory production expands and whether supply balances against sustained enterprise and consumer demand.
