Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which assembles Apple Inc’s MacBooks and Apple Watches, foresees a challenging year ahead amid an uncertain outlook for the global economy, a company executive said yesterday.
“After facing a challenging year last year, we have not seen significant signs of a global economic recovery for this year so far,” vice chairman C.C. Leung (梁次震) said at the company’s year-end banquet for employees at the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei.
Leung said the situation facing the company this year is different.
“It is an era of change,” Leung said, with international crude oil prices plunging to less than US$30 per barrel from more than US$100 a few years ago.
He said consumers are facing rapid changes in the technology field and the only way Quanta can overcome difficulties is by staying ahead of market trends.
“We expect competition and pressure this year, but if we work together and effectively utilize our wisdom, we can definitely make this a good year,” Leung said.
Developing innovative and creative products would be key for Quanta’s operations this year, he added.
With new technologies replacing existing technologies and new business models taking over the old ones, the company has to work harder and be flexible like a monkey, Quanta chairman Barry Lam (林百里) said.
“There is hope when there are challenges out there,” Lam told employees at the banquet.
Quanta’s consolidated revenue climbed 8.74 percent to NT$1 trillion (US$29.76 billion) last year from a year earlier.
Shipments of notebook computers, which contributed 55 to 60 percent of total revenue, fell 10.72 percent annually to 43.3 million units last year.
Leung said on Nov. 11 last year that growth in the cloud-computing segment would help offset weakness in the notebook business this year.
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