Lenovo, the world's No.4 PC brand, may team up with Japan's NEC Corp to jointly develop smartphones in the future, the chief executive of the Chinese company said on Thursday.

Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing did not give further details during a news conference to announce the company's joint venture with NEC to sell PCs in Japan.

PC companies are increasingly looking to mobile devices such as smartphones to drive up razor-thin margins. Lenovo's operating margin clocked in at 1.8 percent in the third quarter of last year.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

Japan Lenovo Smartphone