Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s fifth-largest PC brand, yesterday reported that consolidated sales last quarter expanded 19.23 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$118.79 billion (US$4.04 billion), beating the company’s guidance of a 15 percent increase.
The figure rose 23.77 percent from the same month last year, Asustek said.
Chief financial officer David Chang (張偉明) said the better-than-expected growth was due to higher motherboard and notebook computer shipments.
“Due to the launch of new products and stronger-than-expected market demand for laptops, sales last quarter beat the company’s earlier estimate,” Chang said by telephone.
“It is likely that sales this quarter will exceed those of last quarter thanks to the launch of new laptops and tablets,” he said.
Asustek will disclose its third-quarter motherboard, tablet and laptop shipments at an investors’ conference next month, Chang said.
On Aug. 9, Asustek forecast its motherboard shipments would increase 10 percent to 5.5 million units last quarter from 5 million units the previous quarter, while laptop shipments would grow 4.8 percent to 4.3 million units from 4.1 million units and tablet shipments would expand 75 percent to 3.5 million units from 2 million units over the same period.
General sales manager Kevin Lin (林福能) yesterday said Asustek is on track to meet its tablet shipment target for the year of 1.8 million units in Taiwan, driven by its popular Transformer series.
The second-generation Nexus 7, made in conjunction with Google Inc, has already sold more than 10,000 units domestically since it went on sale last month, Lin said at the opening ceremony for its flagship store in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正).
The store, located on the first floor of the Guanghua Digital Plaza (光華數位新天地) on Bade Road, features a selection of Asustek’s PadFone Infinity smartphones, Transformer-series tablets laptops and desktops.
“We aim to help customers experience our products more directly,” Lin said. “It is part of our plans to upgrade customer services next year, and our goal for products to be promoted via word-of-mouth.”
Asustek is ramping up production of desktops and laptops running Intel Corp’s new-generation Haswell processor through the first quarter of next year. The company also plans to unveil its first Chromebook laptop as early as this quarter, according to Credit Suisse analyst Thompson Wu (武光明).
Separately, Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), the world’s No. 2 contract notebook maker, yesterday reported sales increased 18.87 percent to NT$61.93 billion last month from NT$52.1 billion in August.
Including sales generated last month, Compal’s third-quarter sales amounted to NT$164.9 billion, down 1.34 percent from NT$167.14 billion during the second quarter of the year and 4.32 percent from NT$172.35 billion during the same period of last year.
Additional reporting by CNA
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