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.
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