Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), the world’s No. 2 contract notebook computer maker, yesterday said it expects sales of non-notebook products to contribute up to 35 percent of its total revenues this year, offsetting weakness in the notebook segment.
The company’s non-notebook business includes smartphones, tablets and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Growth in its smartphone business is expected to accelerate this quarter and extend into the next, driven by demand from emerging markets like India and Southeast Asian states, Compal president Ray Chen (陳瑞聰) told an investors’ conference at the company’s Taipei headquarters.
Chen said he expects Compal’s IoT segment to pick up next quarter, while tablet shipments are forecast to post a single-digit percentage decline sequentially this quarter before picking up in the second half of the year.
Overall, non-notebook shipments are expected to expand by a double-digit percentage this year from last year’s 37 million units, he said.
Compal further expects sales contribution from non-notebook products to rise by between 35 and 40 percent next year, he said.
As for its notebook business, which accounted for 70 percent of its revenues of NT$176.64 billion (US$5.43 billion) last quarter, it is expected to decline 10 percent this year from last year’s 40 million units, he said, citing continued weakness in the industry.
Compal reported a 21 percent annual decline in net income to NT$1.6 billion last quarter, or earnings per share of NT$0.37. That represented a 30 percent decline from the previous quarter’s NT$2.27 billion, company data showed.
Sales last month dropped 24.87 percent annually and 33.45 percent quarterly to NT$46.31 billion.
Consolidated revenue slid 14.23 percent annually to NT$222.95 billion for the first four months of this year, company data showed.
The company announced plans to distribute cash dividends of NT$1.2 per share, based on its earnings per share of NT$2.01 last year. That translates into a payout ratio of 60 percent, higher than last year’s 55 percent, and a yield of 6.7 percent, based on the company’s closing price of NT$17.90 yesterday.
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