Laptop computer maker Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) expects its notebook shipments to grow in the first quarter next year thanks to recovering demand, a company executive said yesterday.
“Our notebook segment is booming now. Shipments have been growing since the beginning of September,” Asustek chief executive Jerry Shen (沈振來) told reporters on the sidelines of a launch event for the ZenFone Zoom handset in Taipei.
“Growth momentum is expected to extend into the first quarter of next year,” Shen said, without elaborating on the number of shipments.
Photo: CNA
On Nov. 11, Shen told investors that the company foresees shipments of PC products, including notebooks, increasing by almost 10 percent quarter-on-quarter to 5.8 million units in the fourth quarter.
Asustek has been carefully managing its inventory levels in its sales channels in the third quarter of this year amid industry headwinds, sources familiar with the matter said.
Recovering end-user demand and demand created by inventory buildup has helped boost the company’s notebook shipments since the end of last quarter.
Shen said he is also upbeat about the performance of Asustek’s mobile segment this quarter, which contributed 22 percent of the firm’s revenue of NT$110.98 billion (US$3.38 billion) last quarter.
“The smartphone segment has robust growth momentum. The sell-through of handsets in Asustek’s key smartphone markets is growing every day,” Shen said.
The company expects smartphone shipments to increase by nearly 30 percent to 7 million units this quarter from the 5.5 million handsets sold last quarter, Shen said.
Meanwhile, the company named two new chief operating officers as part of its efforts to improve its management structure.
Asustek chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠) said it was a necessary move for the firm to appoint two chief operating officers to oversee Asustek’s mobile computing and PC segments separately amid increasing international competition and to reinforce its brand name.
Asustek vice presidents Samsun Hu (胡書賓) and S.Y. Hsu (許先越) were appointed as chief operating officers and both will report to Shen, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Hu, who is also the head of Asustek’s mobile communications unit, would help the company to improve its services and product quality, Shih said.
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