Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) yesterday forecast that its notebook computer shipments would drop by more than 6 percent annually this year, deeper than the industry’s consensus estimate of a 5 to 6 percent decline in global notebook shipments.
“We are more conservative about the outlook for the industry this year, as order visibility is really unclear. This year is likely to be another challenging one for notebooks,” a Quanta investor relations official said by telephone.
The contract notebook maker shipped 4.6 million units in the first two months, down more than 20 percent from 5.9 million units it shipped in the same period last year.
“It was very difficult for us during the first two months,” she said.
The official said that the company would fare much better in the second quarter, but declined to offer the company’s shipment guidance for the second quarter, due to limited order visibility.
That Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) is reducing its notebook orders to Taiwanese contract suppliers is also likely to weigh on Quanta’s notebook business this year, another Quanta official said.
“Our internal forecast is that notebook shipments will drop more than 6 percent this year from last year’s 433 million units,” said the second official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Quanta said it is more optimistic over its cloud-related business, which accounted for 30 percent of the firm’s annual revenue of NT$1 trillion (US$30.98 billion) last year, due to steady commercial clients and clear order visibility. Cloud-related business includes servers, storage, switches, wearable devices, tablets and Internet-of-Things devices.
“We are upbeat that the revenue from the server business will jump by 20 percent annually this year. The visibility is clearer and more certain compared with the notebook business,” the second official said.
Quanta yesterday reported net profit of NT$17.82 billion, or NT$4.6 per share, for last year, down 5.6 percent from a year earlier, mainly due to lower foreign-exchange gains and weak notebook demand.
Foreign-exchange gains and interest income totaled NT$4.7 billion last year, falling significantly by 58.77 percent from NT$11.4 billion a year earlier, the company said.
The company said it would distribute a cash dividend of NT$3.8 per share to shareholders, representing an 82 percent payout ratio, which is the same payout ratio as a year earlier.
The planned distribution suggests a yield of 6.76 percent, based on the company’s closing price of NT$56.2 in Taipei trading yesterday.
On Wednesday, local rival Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) reported an annual increase of 23.47 percent in net income to NT$8.68 billion, or NT$2.01 per share, for last year, largely because of a lower base in 2014.
Compal said its business would pick up quarterly throughout the year, driven by its non-notebook operations, following the annual trough period of the first quarter.
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