Lenovo Philippines expects surge in sales to continue as work-from-home arrangements likely to stay

Lenovo Philippines expects the surge in sales to continue this year and the next, as it believes flexible working arrangements will be part of the norm after the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a virtual briefing on Tuesday, Lenovo Philippines president and General Manager Michael Ngan said business will be driven by more firms shifting to work-from-home arrangements.

"I think the surge last year, nobody really expected that surge. If your question is will that continue this year and next year, the answer is really yes," he told reporters.

Ngan did not provide specific figures, but noted that the International Data Corporation (IDC) expects unit shipments to grow by 25% to 30% in 2021.

Lenovo last year reported a surge in sales last year following the implementation of quarantines against the COVID-19 pandemic, which it attributed mainly to work-from-home and online learning arrangements.

"Not all firms adapted last year and there are really a lot of companies today embracing digital transformation and in doing so, investment in devices will continue to surge," said Ngan.

Over a year after the pandemic hit the Philippines, a number of areas in the country continue to be under community quarantines.

The NCR Plus bubble -- Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan -- was placed under the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) starting March 29 to April 11, followed by the modified ECQ (MECQ) starting April 12 which is set to last until May 14.

According to Ngan, remote work arrangements are likely to stay even after the COVID-19 pandemic as more and more companies shift from the traditional setup.

"I think the reason why this will continue is because last year, a lot of them were not able to adapt and probably they lost a lot of businesses by not doing so," he said.

"So why wait for another pandemic to come? A lot of them really have that fear of embracing technology so I see it to continue and I think a lot of the companies will start embracing technology," added Ngan.

The executive said that companies with flexible working arrangements will have the edge as this will entice more employees to work for them.

"From an HR standpoint, if an employee actually today sees other companies giving work from home or have the work-from-home setup, if you as an employee, would you apply for this company or another company who doesn't offer that? It now becomes a competitive edge for some companies," he explained.

Ngan noted, however, that among the pain points of shifting to remote work arrangements include productivity of the customers, and security, especially with sensitive documents.

A recent study by professional network portal LinkedIn found that remote work arrangements will likely continue in one way or another even after the COVID-19 pandemic. — RSJ, GMA News