Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), the world’s fifth-largest notebook computer maker, said its fourth quarter revenue would be better than expected, supported by strong demand in Asian markets and sales of new products, including its ultrabook series.
To compete with Apple Inc’s ultra-thin MacBook Air, Asustek yesterday launched four ultrabooks in Taipei with retail prices starting at NT$36,900 (US$1,216), higher than the US$1,000 Intel Corp anticipated and pricier than an entry-level MacBook Air, which sells for NT$31,900.
Asustek’s ultrabooks, branded as “Zenbooks,” offer panel sizes of either 11.6 inches or 13.3 inches. The Taipei launch followed the unveiling of five ultrabooks in New York on Tuesday, according to the company.
Photo: CNA
Asustek aims to sell 300,000 ultrabooks by the end of this year, financial executive David Chang (張偉明) told reporters.
Ultrabooks are expected to make up about 8 percent of Asustek’s total notebook shipments this quarter, Chang said, implying that Asustek would ship 3.75 million notebooks in total, up about 4 percent from an estimated 3.6 million units in the third quarter.
“We expect the fourth quarter won’t be as slow as it usually is,” Chang said. “Revenue usually dips in the fourth quarter [from the third quarter], but this time the decline could be less steep.”
In the quarter ending Sept. 30, Asustek’s unconsolidated revenue grew 24.7 percent from the previous quarter, or 25.06 percent year-on-year, to NT$96.36 billion, its highest level since the third quarter of last year when the company spun off its contract manufacturing businesses.
Chang’s optimistic fourth-quarter outlook is built on solid growth in Asia-Pacific markets, such as China, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. Excluding China, the Asia-Pacific region made up about 20 percent of Asustek’s overall revenue, he told reporters.
Besides, demand “from Western European countries is not as bad as [some analysts] thought based on what our salespeople are telling us, but we will still be cautious about inventory management in the region,” Chang said.
New product launches would also help, Chang said.
Asustek is scheduled to launch a new generation of its popular tablet computers, dubbed the “Eee Pad Transformer,” next month, he said.
This quarter, Asustek expected shipments of tablet computers to fall to 600,000 units, or to remain unchanged from the third quarter at 800,000 tablets, as demand could stall ahead of the launch of the new products, Chang said.
The forecast has factored in potential erosion from Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet, he said.
In August, Asustek said it would ship 800,000 tablets in the third quarter. The company has not yet disclosed an exact figure.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last