(Yicai Global) Sept. 27 -- Chinese electronics maker Lenovo Group plans to shift its focus to the business-to-business segment and expects to start making more money from data centers than it does from personal computer sales, according to its chief executive.

B2B will be an important part of Lenovo's future, Yang Yuanqing told news site QQ at Tech World 2018. If you imagine a U curve, Lenovo has been past the bottom and is back on the way up, he added, saying Lenovo's operating income, profit and market share all saw major growth over the past year.

"Our PC business is very successful, but our B2B business is not so impressive," Yang said at the conference, despite the fact that his company began life as a B2b company and then extended into the consumer sector.

Lenovo will apply industry-leading algorithms and big data tools to create solutions that can stay abreast of digitization taking place across a range of sectors, he added. The firm hopes to provide customized products and system designs and consultation, installation and maintenance services for the Smart Internet of Things.

The B2B business will require a lot of effort and Lenovo plans to ramp up spending on research and development, Yang said, adding that Lenovo already has 20,000 patents and registers about 2,000 more each year. The firm is among the top 15 companies in terms of R&D spending in China, keeping up with the likes of Dell and HP.

Editor: James Boynton