Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) said it was conservative about its business operations this quarter due to rising global economic uncertainty after Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
The company made the statement, despite the coming peak sales season for the PC industry.
“As many economic risks might impact consumer confidence and spending, Asustek will be conservative in operations this quarter,” the company said.
Asustek’s remarks came after it reported a revenue of NT$93.9 billion (US$2.91 billion) for last quarter, falling 5 percent annually and 15 percent from the previous quarter, the company said.
Quarterly revenue fell in line with the company’s revised forecast after it last month cut the estimate by 5 percent to between NT$90 billion and NT$95 billion.
Asustek attributed the 5 percent annual decline to lower average selling prices of its smartphones because of product cycle dissipation.
The company said it is working to increase the sales of its higher-margin gaming and ultralight notebooks, but the overall notebook market was dragged by weaker-than-expected demand from Asia-Pacific nations last quarter.
In the first six months of this year, Asustek’s accumulated consolidated revenue totaled NT$222.59 billion, down by 1.05 percent from NT$220.29 billion last year, according to Asustek’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Asustek said it is to launch its ZenFone 3 series smartphones and new notebook products in the middle of this quarter, in a bid to spur market demand and improve its average selling prices.
To cope with global uncertainties, Asustek plans to further improve its operational efficiency and control its resources and expenses in a more cautious manner, it said.
Similarly, contract notebook makers Compal Electronics Co (仁寶), Wistron Corp (緯創) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) shared conservative business outlooks for this quarter.
Compal said its notebook shipments this quarter should expand from last quarter’s 7.8 million units, but it is still difficult to forecast the growth range due to vague order visibility.
Wistron said it expects its notebook shipments to increase mildly from the 4.6 million units last quarter on concerns global economic conditions might dampen demand.
Quanta said it shipped a total of 10.6 million notebooks last quarter, jumping more than 26 percent quarterly, thanks to project-based low-priced notebook orders from clients.
Quanta is to host an investors’ conference in the middle of next month and offer business guidance for this quarter, the company said.
Compal’s revenue last quarter plummeted 13.12 percent annually and 2.11 percent quarterly to NT$172.9 billion, while Wistron’s revenue grew 0.36 percent year-on-year and 8.84 percent quarterly to NT$146.61 billion in the second quarter of this year.
Quanta’s sales plunged 17.26 percent to NT$207.66 billion last quarter, but expanded 5.21 percent from a quarter earlier, according to its filing with the stock exchange.
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