In a sinking PC market, Lenovo continues to rise

The PC market is in a strange, dangerous place right now. Sales are down, tablets are taking over, and even Microsoft is shifting away from it.

Lenovo, however, seems largely unfazed.

The company posted a record $8.7 billion in sales during the second quarter this year — an 11 percent increase over last year’s numbers.

That’s crazy because it comes after IDC estimated that PC shipments dropped 8.6 percent during the July-September quarter. So while the Dells and HPs of the market are contracting, Lenovo has somehow managed to thrive.

Breaking it down, laptop shipments were up 11.3 percent, and desktop shipments increased by 8.8 percent. Lenovo says that these numbers helped it capture a record high 15 percent of the PC market. (Numbers from Gartner last month told a similar story.)

Much the Lenovo’s success can be pinned on its movement in China, where its PC sales outnumber those of its next four competitors combined. 44 percent of Lenovo’s sales came from China alone.

But while Lenovo’s doing well now, it’s anyone’s guess how long the company can keep it up. Lenovo’s piece of the PC market pie may be increasing, but how much is that going to be worth when there’s no pie left?