Asustek says Q3 revenues to rise 20%

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), the world's largest motherboard maker, said yesterday that this quarter's revenues will rise almost 20 percent on seasonal factors.

The company expects to post sales of as much as NT$170 billion (US$5.1 billion) in the quarter ending this month, growing more than 20 percent from last quarter. Annual sales are forecast to rise 33 percent to US$23 billion.

Brand product gross margins will be stable from the previous quarter, as the firm sees more demand and has a better product mix, Asustek chief financial officer David Chang (張偉明) told investors yesterday.

Motherboard shipments will grow 14 percent this year to 63 million units, while graphic cards will expand 39 percent to 15 million units, the company said.

Total notebook shipments for the year are expected to rise 27 percent to 7 million. Own brand notebooks will grow 55 percent to 4.2 million, while contracted units will remain flat at 2.8 million.

Asustek said last week that second-quarter profit had more than doubled from last year to NT$6.85 billion, as sales of its own Asus brand notebooks increased.

Meanwhile, company president Jerry Shen (沈振來) said its low-cost Eee PCs would reach stores late this month.

The initial release will be 10,000 units and the volume will increase to as many as 300,000 units in the fourth quarter.