Netbook computer pioneer Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) yesterday said it expected revenues to surge next year, backed by rising shipments of notebooks.
Total shipments of notebooks and Eee PC netbooks are expected to rise 30 percent to 16 million next year, up from this year’s forecast of between 11 million and 12 million units, Asustek chief executive officer Jerry Shen (沈振來) told reporters after an investor conference.
“We will be back on track next year,” he said, adding that revenue growth should be in line with notebook shipment growth.
Conventional notebooks will account for 55 percent of total shipments this year, while netbooks will take the rest, he said. Next year, conventional notebooks will take up 60 percent, while Eee PCs will make up 40 percent, he added.
As Eee PCs already account for more than 20 percent of the global netbook market share, while notebooks’ share of the total market is still low at less than 10 percent, there is more room for growth for notebook sales next year, the company said.
Asustek aims to become one of the world’s top-three notebook brands in 2011, moving up from its target spot of No. 4 next year and fifth place this year.
To achieve that, it will continue to explore markets in the Asia-Pacific region and South America, where growth lags behind other markets. The US is the company’s fastest growing market this year, while China and eastern Europe have seen shipments doubled in the second half, Shen said.
The firm expects to maintain an operating margin of between 4 percent and 6 percent next year, higher than its industry peers, thanks to product innovation and a shorter lead time, Shen said.
The company reported an operating margin of 5.8 percent in the third quarter, up from the second quarter’s 0.1 percent, but down from 6.9 percent from a year earlier.
Asustek posted NT$6.49 billion (US$200 million) in net profit in the third quarter, edging up from NT$6.38 billion a year earlier.
Revenue was NT$67.06 billion, up 47.9 percent from NT$45.35 billion in the previous quarter but down 4 percent from NT$69.82 billion a year earlier.
Notebooks and Eee PCs took up the chunk of third-quarter sales at 74 percent, while motherboards and graphics cards accounted for 25 percent and handheld devices 1 percent.
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