Taiwanese computer makers Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Acer Inc (宏碁) see great potential in the low and middle-end tablet computer market and are launching more such products this year to expand their market shares despite expected fierce competition.
According to CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, shipments of “white-box” tablets –– those without a registered brand name –– are forecast to reach 100 million units worldwide this year, way above about 60 million units a year ago.
It could be a huge business opportunity to tap into the estimated US$10 billion to US$13 billion market this year, CLSA said.
Early last month, Asustek launched a 7-inch Android tablet called the Asus MeMO Pad in the US, retailing at US$149.
The company will launch more 7-inch tablets by the end of next month, with a full product portfolio priced between US$120 and US$300 after the great success of its quad-core Nexus 7, co-branded with Google Inc.
On Dec. 3, Asustek said it was optimistic aboout tablet sales and predicted that its tablet shipments would increase by 90 percent this year from last year.
During a five-day annual global sales meeting at the company’s Guandu (關渡) headquarters, Asustek said its tablet shipments were expected to increase to 12 million units this year from 6.3 million last year.
Acer, which shipped 1.8 million tablets last year, is also expecting to double its sales this year.
Following the strong demand for its 7-inch touchscreen Iconia B1, priced at NT$4,990 (US$170) in Taiwan, Acer will launch similar tablets in sizes of 8 and 10 inches this year, said Scott Lin (林顯郎), Acer’s senior vice president and president of its Greater China operations.
The two new devices are likely to start from around NT$6,000 and NT$7,000 respectively, when they hit the market by the third quarter of this year, Lin said.
Asustek’s shares closed up 2.59 percent at NT$356 in Taipei trading on Feb. 6, the last day of trading before the local stock market closed for the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday, while Acer’s share price was unchanged at NT$25.1, the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s statistics showed.
Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday introduced the company’s latest supercomputer platform, featuring six new chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), saying that it is now “in full production.” “If Vera Rubin is going to be in time for this year, it must be in production by now, and so, today I can tell you that Vera Rubin is in full production,” Huang said during his keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas. The rollout of six concurrent chips for Vera Rubin — the company’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) computing platform — marks a strategic
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns. In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns. “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,”
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
RSS