Contract PC maker Inventec Corp (英業達) yesterday said it plans to start shipping tablets of between 7 inches and 8 inches from the fourth quarter of the year to increase sales drivers in response to shrinking notebook shipments.
“Inventec is definitely going to hold a share in the tablet market and has targeted smaller-sized tablets as the company’s priority,” the Central News Agency quoted Inventec chairman Richard Lee (李詩欽) as saying in a report.
Lee said Inventec planned to deliver small shipments of tablets from the fourth quarter of this year, adding that the company expects to see significant growth in tablet shipments if robust demand for the product is sustainable.
This year, Inventec’s total notebook, all-in-one desktop and tablet shipments are expected to reach 20 million units, and grow 50 percent to 30 million units next year, Lee said at a shareholders meeting yesterday.
Tablet products are forecast to become Inventec’s new sales driver this year, while shipments of other products such as servers and business laptops are expected to continue growing steadily, Lee added.
“Overall, Inventec’s sales this year should grow mildly,” Lee said.
“Inventec aims to improve its product portfolio to enhance the company’s profitability. Consumer laptops and servers are still going to be the company’s main sales driver this year,” he added.
Lee said the Ultrabook and Windows 8 operating system failed to effectively boost market demand for PC products, adding that enterprises and consumers did not have a strong replacement demand for PCs because of cost concerns, and because of the rise of tablets and smartphones.
To cope with challenges ahead, Inventec will continue to manufacture touch-enabled PC products such as tablets and all-in-one desktops, which have seen a stronger demand, Lee said.
Inventec is also seeking to develop more cloud-based servers to meet rising market demand for big data storage, Lee added.
Currently, sales of consumer and business laptops account for less than 55 percent of Inventec’s total sales, while those of servers account for between 20 percent and 25 percent and those of smartphones, tablets and all-in-one desktops account for the remaining 20 percent.
Lee said Inventec Solar Energy Corp (英穩達), a subsidiary of Inventec focusing on solar panel development, swung into profit last quarter and its business is under control, with sales currently accounting for about 2 percent of Inventec’s total sales.
Inventec’s other subsidiaries, such as E-Ton Solar Tech Co (益通) and Inventec Energy Corp (英懋達), are expected to turn a profit by the end of this year as their financial conditions are still improving, he added.
Inventec’s shareholders yesterday approved the company’s proposal to distribute NT$0.8 in cash dividends per common share on earnings generated last year.
With its solar panel business improved, Inventec’s net profits last year expanded 283 percent to NT$1.8 billion (US$60.3 million), with earnings per share of NT$0.8.
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