Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) expects revenues this year to grow slightly from last year, with profitability climbing significantly, driven by growing demand for non-PC products, a company executive said yesterday.
“The non-PC segment contributed more than 50 percent of Lite-on’s total revenues last year, and we expect the sales contribution to continue increasing this year,” CEO Warren Chen (陳廣中) told a news conference before the firm’s year-end banquet for employees at the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei.
Chen said Lite-On’s performance this year would be driven by growth in sales of power supplies for cloud-computing, high-end camera modules, outdoor and automotive LED lighting products and LED modules, aided by client share gains and strong market demand.
The company has been focusing on supplying high-end camera modules since the second half of last year in a bid to maintain profitability amid slowing growth in the global smartphone industry.
Company chairman Raymond Soong (宋恭源) said the firm is upbeat that its automotive LED lighting products’ global market share would exceed 20 percent in three years from 10 percent now, supported by a growing client base and a steady supply of high-quality products.
Soong said Lite-On’s outdoor LED lighting products have secured a majority 40 percent share of the local and US markets, with sales enjoying double-digit percentage annual growth over the past few years.
Chen said Lite-On has not been affected by a global supply glut of LED modules, as it focuses on LED modules for sensors or invisible lights, such as infrared, instead of LED backlights.
This has helped the company avoid cutthroat competition in the market, he added.
As for its PC peripheral products, Chen said the company is well-positioned to expand its shares among existing clients despite a weakening PC industry.
“We have close relationships and good order allocations with top global PC vendors,” he said.
Lite-On’s revenues reached NT$216.79 billion (US$6.43 billion) last year, down 6.01 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Net profit totaled NT$4.84 billion in the first three quarters of last year, up 15.51 percent from a year earlier.
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