Inventec Corp (英業達), an assembler of Apple Inc’s AirPods and HomePods, remains optimistic about its shipments of “smart” devices this quarter, despite Apple delaying the launch of the HomePod to the first quarter of next year.
“Total shipments of Inventec’s smart devices this quarter is to outpace last quarter by a mid-single-digit percentage as we forecast, reaching a peak for this year,” an Inventec official said by telephone.
Inventec’s plants in Shanghai and Nanjing, China, are running at their full capacity to meet robust demand for smart devices this quarter, the official added.
The US company earlier this month pushed the release date of its Siri-powered HomePod smart speaker from next month to early next year, saying in a statement that “it needs more time before the product is ready for customers.”
The HomePod is to be released in the US, the UK and Australia early next year, the statement said.
Investors have been worried that the delayed launch of the HomePod would negatively affect Inventec’s shipments of smart devices this quarter, as the company is the main assembler for the product.
Inventec shares have fallen 2.17 percent in the past month, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
“Investors might have overreacted. The shipment schedules for Inventec’s smart devices across the board remain unchanged this quarter,” the official said.
Inventec’s smartphones and wireless earpieces would be the main growth engines for the smart devices business this quarter, while shipments of smart speakers were expected to be limited in the initial stages, the official said.
The firm’s largest smartphone client, China’s Xiaomi Corp (小米), announced that it reached its annual shipment forecast of 70 million handsets last month, two months ahead of schedule.
Inventec and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) each have a 50 percent share of smartphone orders from Xiaomi, according to industry sources.
Although Inventec declined to specify its wireless earpieces client, it is widely believed that Inventec receives 100 percent of the orders for Apple’s AirPods, an estimated of 20 million units a year, industry sources told the Taipei Times.
Inventec Appliance Co (英華達) chief executive David Ho (何代水) on Nov. 9 told investors that Inventec is expected to achieve its annual target of shipping 70 million smart devices by the end of this year.
Inventec’s smart devices segment accounted for 19.2 percent of its total revenue of NT$123.96 billion (US$4.13 billion) last quarter, company data showed.
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