Lenovo COO ‘Not Afraid’ of Chromebook ASP ‘Deterioration’

Lenovo plans to introduce its first 5G Chromebook in the second half next year at the premium tier of the laptop space, said Chief Operating Officer Gianfranco Lanci on a fiscal Q2 call Tuesday. “I'm not afraid of any deterioration of the average selling price of Chromebook.” Competition in the Chromebook segment is limited to “four to five players,” he said. “I don't see additional players coming.” Lenovo had $10 to $20 "improvement" in Chromebook ASPs the past three quarters, he said. Chromebook demand for remote work and learning soared during the pandemic (see 2009110020). PCs and tablets “are now one device per person” in the “new normal” of COVID-19, said CEO Yuanqing Yang. Lenovo projects total PC market will grow by about 25 million units globally this year from 2019 and will “reach very close to 300 million units” in 2020, he said. The forecast is for 7% growth in 2021 PC demand, said Lanci. There’s a “dynamic shift” in PC demand that will “continue to create tailwinds for e-learning, work from home, play from home, cloud infrastructure and 5G,” said Chief Financial Officer Wai Ming: “We are optimistic that these long-term structural trends could enlarge the addressable market” for PCs and cloud infrastructure products, plus speed deployment of 5G services.