Micro-Star International Co (微星), a leading maker of PC motherboards, graphics cards and gaming computers, posted weaker-than-expected revenue for last quarter, but is forecast to see sales improve gradually this quarter thanks to the launch of Nvidia Corp’s new graphics processing units (GPUs) and limited effects from a shortage of Intel Corp’s central processing units (CPUs), analysts said last week.
Micro-Star’s consolidated revenue in the July-to-September quarter reached NT$28.7 billion (US$926.5 million), down 1.35 percent from a year earlier, but up 1.4 percent from the previous quarter, company data showed.
“Performance last quarter was mainly affected by slowing demand for the graphics cards used in cryptocurrency mining, while new high-end graphics card products were launched in late September with no significant contribution to third-quarter sales,” Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co (日盛投顧) analyst David Tseng (曾德瑋) said in a research note on Friday.
The much-anticipated launch of Nvidia’s Turing GPUs — a major upgrade from the firm’s Pascal GPU architecture — was delayed to late last month after being scheduled for earlier in the quarter.
“With more Nvidia GPU products hitting the market this month, we expect Micro-Star to see rising graphics card shipments and higher selling prices, which will offset lukewarm growth in notebook computer and motherboard shipments,” Tseng said.
When Nvidia launched new GPUs in 2014 and 2016, Micro-Star’s product mix and profitability improved, so “the new Nvidia GPUs are to ignite Micro-Star’s sales momentum in graphics cards in the fourth quarter,” Tseng said.
Intel’s CPU shortage, which began in the second quarter, has mainly affected middle-tier and low-end PC products, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) analyst Calvin Wei (魏建發) said.
Micro-Star focuses on high-end gaming computers, so the firm has seen limited effects from the shortage, Wei said in a note on Monday.
“However, Micro-Star might be impacted by the escalating US-China trade war” as the company has sales exposure of up to 20 percent in the US market, including 10 percent for motherboards and graphics cards and 10 percent for computer systems, Wei said.
Micro-Star shares fell 1.82 percent to NT$70.3 in Taipei trading on Friday. They have fallen 8.22 percent since January, while the broader market has dropped 6.8 percent over the period.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure