Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), which makes the world’s first low-cost netbook computer, said yesterday it aimed to become the world’s No. 4 laptop computer maker this year by expanding shipments by a faster than industry average rate of 36 percent.
It is part of the company’s drive to become No. 3 next year on the back of its Eee PC family.
Asustek said it would ship about 16.52 million notebook computers this year, including netbooks, up 36.6 percent from last year’ s 12.2 million units, with strongest growth coming from Asia and South American markets, chief executive Jerry Shen (沈振來) said.
Overall, notebook shipments are expected to grow 20 percent year-on-year this year, Asustek said.
Asustek, which now ranks No. 5 in the global notebook market, said it would not sacrifice profit margin for market share gain as some rivals have done.
The company aims to keep its operating profit margin between 4 percent and 6 percent, this year, Shen said.
Asustek “will aggressively expand our market share,” Shen said.
Vincent Chen (陳豊丰), a PC analyst with Yuanta Securities (元大證券), said it “would be impressive if Asustek can keep its operating margin at between 4 to 6 percent, as most PC brands are unable to sustain a margin higher than 4 percent.”
Asustek plans to boost its product lineup by launching its first tablet computer in the second half of this year to compete with Apple Inc’s iPAD, Shen said.
The shipment forecast has factored in worsening labor shortage problems, Shen said.
Labor shortages at its own factories and electronic manufacturing unit Pegatron Technology Corp (和碩聯合), as well as at component suppliers, could cause a 10 percent reduction in shipments in the current quarter.
“Labor shortages are a serious problem,” Shen said. “All our production lines are affected. We are trying to solve this problem now.”
Revenues may drop this quarter by between 10 percent and 20 percent, compared to last quarter’s NT$84.75 billion, chief executive David Chang (張偉明) said.
Shipments of notebooks, including netbooks, are expected to decline 10 percent to 20 percent from 4.5 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of last year, Chang said.
“We are cautiously optimistic about the first quarter and second quarter,” Shen said. “There will be more uncertainty in the second quarter.”
Business in Europe would see a tough next quarter, partly because of depreciation of the euro, which could weaken consumer purchasing power, and rising component prices, he said.
Asustek said on Monday that fourth-quarter earnings totaled NT$5.66 billion, reversing losses of NT$2.8 billion in the same period of 2008. That represents a 13 percent decline from NT$6.5 billion in earnings on a quarterly basis.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is