Contract PC maker Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday reported nearly 5 percent monthly growth in revenue to NT$47.04 billion (US$1.43 billion) last month as clients launched new notebook computers and smart devices.
“Thanks to new orders from a major client, our shipments of smart devices surged 70 percent to 500,000 units in July and increased to 850,000 units last month,” said a company official, who declined to be named.
Sales of notebook computers, which accounted for 47 percent of Wistron’s total sales, grew 14.28 percent monthly, with shipments rising to 16 million units from 14 million units in July, the official said.
On an annual basis, Wistron’s revenue last month declined 2.02 percent from a year earlier due to a high comparison base last year, the official said, adding that notebook shipments plunged 22.22 percent from last year’s 18 million units and smart-device shipments plummeted 34.61 percent from 13 million units a year earlier.
In the first eight months, accumulated revenue grew 9.1 percent year-on-year to NT$388.42 billion, Wistron said.
As notebook shipments are likely to grow monthly this quarter amid back-to-school demand, the company could report a double-digit percentage increase in notebook shipments this quarter from last quarter’s 46 million units, the official said.
Shipment of smart devices, which contributed 11 percent of Wistron’s total revenue, may be flat or drop slightly this month from last month, the official said.
Separately, rival Inventec Corp (英業達) saw sales rise 4.47 percent year-on-year and 1.52 percent month-on-month to NT$32.7 billion last month, thanks to higher demand for commercial notebook products.
Inventec said it expects PC-related product shipments this month to be flat from last month’s 1.7 million units.
Overall, shipments of its PC-related products and mobile devices this quarter might increase by a double-digit percentage from last quarter, the company said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure