Aten International Co Ltd (宏正自動科技), which provides information technology (IT) infrastructure solutions, on Thursday said it is to launch 18 high-end KVM switch products next year in a bid to boost its revenue and earnings growth.
A KVM switch is a hardware device that allows a user to control multiple computers from one set of keyboard, video monitor and mouse. High-end KVM switches are used in network management, server and peripheral applications.
“In the face of growing digitization and ‘smart’-ization needs for enterprises, multifunction meeting room solutions and remote management solutions will be the major growth drivers for the company next year,” Aten chief financial officer Alex Chen (陳健南) told a media gathering in Taipei.
The firm’s revenue breakdown for this year shows that 39 percent of sales were from IT solutions for enterprises and 25 percent from IT solutions for small offices, home offices and small to medium-sized businesses, while video products and other items contributed 18 percent each.
IT solutions for enterprises, including the new KVM switches, are to see the largest growth next year, while professional audio-visual products are to see a growth rate higher than the global average of 12 percent, Chen said.
Meanwhile, steady growth is expected for IT solutions for small offices, home offices and small to medium-sized businesses, Chen added.
Aten has sales offices in China, Japan, South Korea, India, Belgium, the UK, Russia, Turkey, Poland, the US and Australia.
The company’s competitors are mostly US vendors, with Avocent Corp and Raritan Inc competing in the KVM sector and Extron Electronics, Crestron Electronics Inc and AMX LLC in the professional audio-visual market.
Aten reported record revenue of NT$474 million (US$15.82 million) for last month, up 14 percent year-on-year and beating market expectations.
Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said the company would see revenue growth for this quarter turn positive on a yearly basis, after four consecutive quarters of negative growth, with quarterly revenue likely hitting a new high of NT$1.36 billion, up 10 percent from NT$1.24 billion last quarter.
“As Aten is a rare Taiwanese tech company that sells under its own brand, with a high gross margin of 60 percent, we believe its competitiveness is excellent and it has become more aggressive in its plans,” Yuanta said in a note on Dec. 13.
In the first 11 months of the year, Aten’s cumulative sales totaled NT$4.48 billion, down 0.5 percent year-on-year, while overall net income in the first three quarters reached NT$521.61 million, with earnings per share of NT$4.32.
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