Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會) chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) yesterday voiced optimism about the outlook of the global smartphone industry for the rest of the year on the back of major international companies’ launches of new flagship handsets.
“Contract electronics manufacturers are very busy getting their funds, key technologies and production ready, as many big smartphone clients are gearing up to introduce their newest products this fall,” the Pegatron Corp (和碩) chairman told reporters on the sidelines of the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) opening ceremony in Taipei.
Samsung Electronics Co launched its new generation of the Note series on Aug. 23 and Apple Inc is scheduled to unveil its 10th-anniversary iPhones today in the US, the most important iPhones in years.
Photo: Huang, Pei-chun, Taipei Times
Pegatron, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Wistron Corp (緯創) assemble iPhones for the US company.
Tung declined to comment on his company’s biggest client because Pegatron is not allowed to directly mention anything related to Apple.
However, he did say that he foresees a smartphone company unveiling a 10th-anniversary product that would feature functions and technologies that would surprise and attract consumers.
Tung said there are market rumors about the new product’s technologies, such as iris scanning, facial-recognition, the relocation of a fingerprint reader and the removal of the home button.
“I cannot confirm whether these speculations are true or not, but I can say innovative technologies, which could largely improve user interface, are very important to stimulate end demand in the markets,” he said.
Tung said there is no need to worry about whether possible constrained supplies of key components for new technologies would disrupt the smooth rollout of new handset shipments, as long as the potential market demand remains intact.
“It is not serious if the arrival of the peak season is late by a month or not. Contract manufacturers, including Pegatron, are all experienced and can flexibly adjust their production and labor force,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pegatron yesterday posted an annual revenue growth of 7.89 percent to NT$89.12 billion (US$2.97 billion) for last month, according to its filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Last month’s result increased the company’s accumulative revenue by 2.49 percent annually to NT$662.66 billion for the first eight months of this year, the filing showed.
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