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Synnex No. 4 on IT list of `BusinessWeek' magazine

Taiwan's tech team * 4 -- Synnex Technology * 22 -- Compal Electronic * 31 -- Hon Hai Precision Industry * 55 -- Giga-Byte Technology * 57 -- Inventec * 68 -- Quanta Computer * 69 -- BenQ * 82 -- Accton Technology * 84 -- D-Link * 88 -- Elitegroup Computer Systems * 89 -- Asustek Computer Source: businessweek

Taiwanese information technology distributor Synnex Technology International Corp (聯強) has been ranked fourth on BusinessWeek's IT 100 list, surpassing tech giants Dell Computer Co, Microsoft Corp and Nokia Corp.

Companies in the survey were ranked according to four criteria: shareholder return, return on equity, revenue growth and total revenue.

US-based BusinessWeek released the 100 best-performing global IT companies on Thursday. The list will be published in next week's issue of the magazine.

Synnex reported 30 percent growth in sales and a 172 percent jump in profit during the first three quarters of the year compared to the same period last year.

In June this year, the company was ranked 67th on BusinessWeek's previous IT 100 list.

Shares of Synnex jumped NT$3.5, or 6.8 percent, to NT$54.5 per share on the TAIEX yesterday.

Established in 1988, Synnex is an IT distributor selling PCs, mobile phones, motherboards and CPUs to end users and retailers.

Thousands of retail outlets around the nation are affiliated with Synnex, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of the nation's retail IT product market.

Synnex entered the US market in 1994 and set up a subsidiary, of which it now owns 20 percent, to run its IT distribution business there. The company entered the Chinese market in 1997 and has expanded into Thailand and Australia.

Industry analysts are not surprised with the BusinessWeek ranking, saying Synnex had a good track record.

"The company saw very strong sales growth in 2002, and we expect its outlook for 2003 will also be very positive," said Raymond Yang (楊晴華), a retail industry analyst at KGI Securities Corp (中信證券).

Sales at Synnex hit NT$61 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 31 percent from same period last year, the company said early last month.

Synnex also boasts of a well-established logistics system in Taiwan and is experienced in managing distribution channels and keeping operational costs low, Yang said.

In addition, because of the company's strong relationship with major global brands, Synnex can easily gain distribution rights from these companies. Microsoft Corp, for example, last month appointed Synnex as Taiwan's first distributor of Xbox game consoles.

China is expected to be Synnex's next large market, an analyst said.

"As Taiwan's retail industry is getting more competitive and saturated, Synnex still has a lot of room to grow in overseas markets such as China," said Belinda Yu (于蕙玲), a deputy manager at Jih Sun Securities Investment Trust Co (日盛投信).

In the first three quarters, sales of Synnex's overseas companies (excluding US firms) amounted to NT$21.35 billion, or 35 percent of the total sales, Synnex spokesman Lin Chun-chien (林俊堅) said.

The company also expects to generate more than NT$100 billion in sales next year, Lin said.
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