In the global personal-computer market, being No. 1 is good, but not good enough. That is what Lenovo will discover when it claims the top spot in PC shipments this year.

Lenovo's surge up the rankings is impressive. The Chinese firm has gone from fourth place in global PC shipments in 2010 to second place in the third quarter of 2012, according to data from industry experts IDC. Gartner, another research firm, says Lenovo already has overtaken Hewlett-Packard to claim the top spot.

Trouble is, sustaining the breakneck growth that catapulted Lenovo into first place looks tough. The company is in a sweet spot, geographically speaking, with exposure to fast-growing China, the rest of Asia, and Latin America.

But the view of Lenovo as an emerging-market play is exaggerated. Mature markets - where the PC market is shrinking - accounted for 42% of the company's sales in the 12 months ended March 2012.

Boosting thin operating-profit margins - just 2.3% in the second quarter - will also be a challenge. Lenovo has succeeded in sustaining operating margins in markets where it has a dominant position: They were 6.5% for its China PC business in the second quarter. But in much of the rest of the world, margins are vanishingly small. Making gains, when HP is promising to compete more aggressively, could be tough.

There are potentialpositive catalysts. David Daoud of IDC says that the launch of Windows 8 by Microsoft represents an opportunity for PC makers to escape the 'good enough' consumer mindset, whereby they are reluctant to pay a premium for superior products. If consumers are willing to open their wallets to pay for new features like touch screens, this could be an opportunity for Lenovo, which has launched four new devices designed with the Windows 8 system in mind.

The firm is also betting that smartphones will be a money spinner. Growth has been explosive, with Lenovo claiming 11% of the Chinese market in the second quarter, according to IDC, and moving into India and Indonesia. Competition from Samsung, HTC, and Huawei is tough. But Lenovo's chief executive, Yang Yuanqing, says he expects the China smartphone business to show a profit inside the next two to three quarters.

Lenovo is confident that rapid growth can be sustained. Mr. Yang says a shift to profitability in the PC business in emerging markets outside China - where Lenovo has been paring losses for the last few quarters - is imminent. But with the stock trading at 12.6 times forecastearnings for the next 12 months, compared with four times for HP and 5.2 times for Dell, investors are already paying a premium for Lenovo. With success priced in, there's little room for a slip.

TOM ORLIK

• research [ri´sə:tʃ]   n.&vi.调查；探究；研究   (初中英语单词)
• challenge [´tʃælindʒ]   n.&vt.向....挑战；怀疑   (初中英语单词)
• promising [´prɔmisiŋ]   a.有希望的；有为的   (初中英语单词)
• compete [kəm´pi:t]   v.比赛，竞争，对抗   (初中英语单词)
• willing [´wiliŋ]   a.情愿的，乐意的   (初中英语单词)
• system [´sistəm]   n.系统，体系，制度   (初中英语单词)
• competition [,kɔmpi´tiʃən]   n.比赛；竞争   (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv]   a.行政的 n.行政官   (初中英语单词)
• impressive [im´presiv]   a.给人深刻印象的   (高中英语单词)
• exposure [ik´spəuʒə]   n.暴露；曝光(时间)   (高中英语单词)
• mature [mə´tjuə]   a.成熟的 v.(使)成熟   (高中英语单词)
• potential [pə´tenʃəl]   n.&a.潜在的；可能的   (高中英语单词)
• positive [´pɔzətiv]   a.确定的   (高中英语单词)
• launch [lɔ:ntʃ]   vt.发动 n.发射；汽艇   (高中英语单词)
• consumer [kən´sju:mə]   n.消费者；用户   (高中英语单词)
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• dominant [´dɔminənt]   a.统治的；占优势的   (英语四级单词)
• whereby [weə´bai]   ad.凭什么；靠那个   (英语四级单词)
• reluctant [ri´lʌktənt]   a.勉强的；难得到的   (英语四级单词)
• premium [´pri:miəm]   n.奖励；奖金；保险费   (英语四级单词)
• explosive [ik´spləusiv]   a.易爆炸的 n.炸药   (英语四级单词)
• speaking [´spi:kiŋ]   n.说话 a.发言的   (英语六级单词)
• imminent [´iminənt]   a.临头的，逼近的   (英语六级单词)
• forecast [´fɔ:kɑ:st]   vt.&n.预测；预报   (英语六级单词)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz]   n.收益；报酬；获得   (英语六级单词)