Lenovo has sold more mobile devices than personal computers for the first time, as the Chinese company pushes to replicate in the smartphone and tablet business its rise to be world’s top PC vendor.

In the three months to June 30, revenue in its Mobile Internet Digital Home segment, which includes mainly smartphones and tablets, rose 105 per cent in the group’s fiscal first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Smartphone shipments more than doubled while tablet shipments more than tripled, Lenovo said yesterday.

The rapid rise came as Lenovo overtook Hewlett-Packard as the world’s largest PC vendor by shipments. The Chinese company accounted for 16.7 per cent of world PC shipments in the second quarter of this year, according to IDC, the research firm. Yang Yuanqing, chief executive, said Lenovo’s rise to the top the PC market had shown the company’s flexibility and speed in an industry