Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world’s largest notebook PC contract maker, posted consolidated revenue of NT$77 billion (US$2.7 billion) last month, down 20.2 percent month-on-month because of seasonal effect.
The figure is a 4.3 percent decline from the same period last year, according to a statement issued yesterday.
“The first quarter is a slower season,” said a company official who requested anonymity.
“Europe and the US are our major clients, but we saw orders momentum mostly from Asian clients for now,” the official said.
Quanta’s notebook PC shipments reached 4.2 million units last month, down 16 percent from December.
Quanta shipped 50 million units last year, a record high and an increase of 40 percent from the previous year.
In a move toward product diversification, the company intends to boost the sales contribution of non-notebook products, including cloud computing solutions, to 30 percent this year, up from 25 percent last year.
For the current quarter, the decline in shipments could be more than the earlier prediction of 10 percent, the official said, attributing the drop to Intel Corp, whose flawed Sandy Bridge chipset prompted notebook brand makers to recall their products.
Meanwhile, the world’s No. 6 PC brand, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), posted standalone revenue of NT$19.8 billion last month, showing a sequential decline of 10 percent.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
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