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Quanta announces record profit

Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world's largest maker of notebook computers, posted a record profit for the second straight quarter after laptop sales exceeded company forecasts. Shipments would rise next year, the company said.

Third-quarter net income rose 36 percent to NT$5.24 billion (US$162 million), or NT$1.51 per share, from NT$3.86 billion, or NT$1.15, a year earlier, the Taoyuan-based company said yesterday.

The company, whose customers include Acer Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co, reported its highest quarterly shipments in the three months through last month as mobile computer sales in the US outpaced desktops for the first time.

Quanta's third-quarter sales climbed to NT$210.3 billion from NT$109.9 billion a year earlier. The company's shares fell 0.9 percent to NT$54.50 yesterday.

The computer maker's notebook shipments rose 19 percent from the previous quarter to 8.8 million, outpacing the company's Aug. 31 guidance for growth of 15 percent. Quanta forecast shipments of 30 million notebooks this year, and predicted they would rise 20 percent to 36 million next year.

The company's gross margin narrowed to 3.4 percent at the parent level excluding affiliates, from 5.1 percent a year earlier.

Quanta could invest next year in Chinese or Taiwanese component suppliers to cut costs and boost efficiency, vice chairman C.C. Leung (梁次震) said yesterday. Quanta is considering investments in suppliers of mechanical parts used in notebooks, he said, without providing details.

The company said it is ready to mass-produce the US$100 laptop computer despite the sponsor hiking its price to US$200.

"The US$100 dollar price was the ideal. If there are price hikes, it does not affect us. We are ready to begin mass production," said Matt Huang, who is in charge of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) production at Quanta.

"The OLPC Foundation is expected to announce the date for launching OLPC in the coming days, maybe this week. As soon as we get the go-ahead, we will start mass production," he said.
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