Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) expects its smartphone business to swing back to profit next quarter, aided by its new ZenFone 4 series, chief executive officer Jerry Shen (沈振來) said at a product launch on Thursday in Rome.
“The company’s smartphone business has improved significantly since we launched the ZenFone 4 series last month. It is likely to turn profitable next quarter,” the Chinese-language Apple Daily and Commercial Times quoted Shen as saying yesterday on the sidelines of the product launch.
Asustek’s smartphone business, which accounted for 17 percent of its total revenue of NT$97.31 billion (US$3.22 billion) last quarter, lingered in the red in the first two quarters of the year, because of the delayed launch of the ZenFone 4 series and slowing sales of older ZenFone models
Photo courtesy of Asustek Computer Inc
Asustek launched the ZenFone 4 series in Taiwan on Aug. 17 and started shipping the product domestically and to Hong Kong, Philippines and Indonesia this month.
The new handset series also started selling in India on Thursday last week.
About 2,000 journalists and telecom operators from more than 20 European nations were invited to the product launch, the company said in a press release yesterday.
Asustek aims to expand its smartphone presence in Europe, Shen said.
With the company’s smartphone shipments in Italy growing by a double-digit percentage over the past two years, Shen estimates that Asustek accounts for about 10 percent of the Italian market.
Annual shipment growth in Italy is estimated to double next year, buoyed by ZenFone 4 sales and Asustek’s collaboration with local telecom operators, such as TIM, he said.
The company is in talks with local telecom operators in France and Spain to support ZenFone 4’s sales momentum, Shen said, adding that it expects total smartphone shipments to Europe would exceed those to the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Taiwan, for the first time next year.
Asustek plans to introduce its next-generation ZenFone series in March next year to sustain its smartphone sales momentum before the product life of the ZenFone 4 ends around June next year.
Asustek shares fell 1.17 percent to close at NT$254 in Taipei trading yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which lost 1.22 percent.
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