China's Lenovo Group, the world's No. 4 PC maker, posted a 78 percent plunge in quarterly earnings on Friday, on slower shipments and lower margins, as the global financial crisis crimps the market for technology products.
Corporate-focused Lenovo earned a net profit of $23.44 million in its fiscal quarter ended in September, compared with $105.26 million a year earlier.
The result severely lagged an average forecast for $91.80 million, according to five analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.
Analysts say China's top computer maker, which competes with Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Asian rival Acer, is expected to thrive in the long run, due to its commanding share of China's market--the world's top PC arena after the United States--and other emerging markets.
Shares in Lenovo plunged 36 percent between July and September, underperforming an 18.5 percent loss in Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index, as investors fled equities in the wake of the financial turmoil.
