BenQ Corp (明基電通), the nation's biggest mobile-phone maker, expects sales to rise about 30 percent this year, driven by products such as flat-panel computer monitors and televisions, and it will increase spending by as much as half.
The company expects its handset shipments to drop 15 percent in the current quarter from the previous three months because of the seasonal decline in demand after the year-end Christmas holiday period. BenQ's overall sales in the first quarter is expected to be flat, compared with the previous three months, the company said in an investors' presentation.
"Overall sales will improve quarter on quarter this year," said Chief Operating Officer Sheaffer Lee (李錫華), declining to give a profit outlook for the year. Higher sales will come from expansion of LCD monitors, scanners, and consumer digital products, he said.
The company posted consolidated sales, including those from overseas units, of NT$110.3 billion for the full year, compared with NT$73.7 billion in the year earlier. Net income rose to NT$7.4 billion from NT$3 billion.
For the whole year, BenQ, which makes handsets under its own brand name and for customers such as Motorola Inc, said handset shipments this year should be on par with last year's level of 16.5 million units.
The average selling price of the "finished goods" is expected to rise 15 percent this year, as individuals switch to colored-display handsets.
BenQ plans to spend NT$3 billion (US$86 million), from about NT$2 billion last year, said Financial Controller Alex Liou (
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