Inventec Corp (英業達) aims to increase annual revenue by 10 percent this year, as the company expects growing sales in smart handheld devices and solar power, chairman Richard Lee (李詩欽) said yesterday.
The contract electronics maker last year posted annual revenue of NT$395.46 billion (US$11.73 billion), a 9.23 percent decrease from NT$435.67 billion a year earlier, dragged down mainly by overall soft demand in the PC industry last year.
“Sales this year are expected to increase in tandem with the expanding businesses of smart handheld devices and solar modules and cells,” Inventec chief financial officer Yu Chin-pao (游進寶) told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference before the firm’s annual weiya (尾牙) banquet for its employees at the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei.
Inventec personal solutions group president Fred Chang (張輝) said the company plans to defy the industry’s downward trend by growing by a single-digit percentage in PC shipments this year from last year’s 19 million units.
“While the industry might experience another year of annual decline in notebook computer shipments, Inventec will continue strategic partnerships with the industry’s top clients and focus on commercial notebook products to buck the trend,” Chang said.
Inventec’s PC segments accounted for 45 percent of its total revenue last year, according to the company.
Inventec Appliance Corp (英華達), which is in charge of Inventec’s smart handheld and wearable device business, plans to boost its total shipments by 40 percent from last year’s 50 million units to 70 million units this year, Inventec Appliance CEO David Ho (何代水) said.
“We have secured 20 clients this year, with Xiaomi Inc’s (小米) orders to account for 50 percent, or 35 million units, of our total shipments this year,” Ho said.
The smart handheld device segment contributed between 10 percent and 15 percent to last year’s total revenue, Yu said, adding that sales contribution from the segment could continue rising this year.
Due to a diversified base of international clients, the outlook for Inventec’s solar power business this year is promising, Inventec Solar Energy Corp (英穩達) CEO Harry Hsieh (謝瑞海) said.
“Inventec’s solar modules and cells are in short supply until at least the third quarter of this year due to strong demand worldwide,” Hsieh said.
As part of efforts to bring positive change to the company, Inventec plans to allocate NT$60 million to encourage employees to devote themselves to technological innovation and creativity, double last year’s NT$30 million, Lee said.
The company also plans to be more aggressive in the Internet of Things sector this year, with an eye toward investing in start-ups and recruiting more talent in the field, Lee said, without elaborating.
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