Inventec Corp (英業達), one of Lenovo Group Ltd’s (聯想) laptop assemblers, yesterday reported its net profit last quarter expanded 49 percent year-on-year due to increased tablet and server shipments.
The company also attributed the growth to its management improvement, cost-efficient manufacturing and product portfolio diversification.
The world’s fourth-largest contract notebook maker said second-quarter net profit increased to NT$1.58 billion (US$52.77 million) from NT$1.06 billion during the same period last year.
However, last quarter’s figure was 1 percent lower than the NT$1.6 billion in the previous quarter, the company said.
Net profits during the January-to-June period grew 169 percent to NT$3.18 billion from NT$1.18 billion a year ago, while cumulative sales flattened at NT$203.99 billion in the same period.
Earnings per share (EPS) last quarter were NT$0.45, up from NT$0.39 in the previous quarter, with first-half EPS reaching NT$0.95 from NT$0.51 a year earlier, the company said.
Inventec chief financial officer Yu Chin-pao (游進寶) said sales would peak this quarter, but limited industry visibility would affect next quarter’s performance and cause second-half sales to stay flat from the first half.
“Inventec’s focus on corporate laptops, which feature high-level specifications and have stronger market demand, remains unchanged,” Yu said.
As consumer laptop shipments have been gradually shrinking due to the rise of tablets, Inventec is gearing up its presence in the tablet contract manufacturing market, Yu said.
“We saw our corporate laptop shipments remain stable, but consumer laptop shipments have contracted significantly,” Yu said, adding that Inventec has planned to steadily decrease its overall laptop shipments to less than 60 percent of the company’s total shipments by the end of the year.
Inventec forecast its server shipments would increase significantly this year on the back of strong demand for data storage, while smartphone shipments from subsidiary Inventec Appliance Corp (英華達) and solar-energy batteries made by subsidiary Inventec Solar Energy Corp (英穩達) are also expected to help boost the parent company’s margins and net profit in the second half, Yu said.
“Inventec Appliance has shifted its focus to smartphone manufacturing, but has also begun researching and developing wireless products including network interface card, speakers, global positioning systems and wearable devices,” Inventec Appliance chief executive officer David Ho (何代水) said.
“It’s our policy not to put all of our eggs in the same basket,” Ho said.
Ho said the “app-cessory” market is expanding with much room for original equipment manufacturers to explore and imagine, added that Inventec Appliance has begun trial tests of smart handheld devices, including glasses, headsets and watches.
Meanwhile, Inventec Solar Energy chief executive officer Harry Hsieh (謝瑞海) said the company has started posting profits from this year and is likely to sustain month-on-month sales growth for another 12 to 18 months.
Neither Inventec Alliance nor Inventec Solar Energy released sales or net profits last quarter.
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