Premier Image Technology Corp (普立爾), the country's largest digital camera maker, yesterday remained cautious about its third-quarter performance, citing market demand that was slower than expected and overstocking problems.
"We have seen some inventory build-up at the client end following lower-than-expected market demand for digital cameras in the second quarter," Premier's President Cliff Liu (
"The industry seemed to be too optimistic at the beginning of this year," Liu said.
Premier Image is planning to revise its sales forecast for the third quarter and even the second half of this year, Liu said, but he shied away from making projections yesterday.
But the inventory issue should be sorted out by the end of this quarter, he said.
Premier posted unaudited pre-tax income of NT$720 million for the first half of this year on NT$10.69 billion of revenue.
That represents an improvement over the NT$700 million in earnings on revenue of NT$8.97 billion that was posted a year ago.
The company shipped 1.9 million units over the first half of the year.
Downward Revision
But due to a slump in demand, the company has revised downward its annual sales target for the year to 5.5 million units from the 6 million units it had predicted earlier this year.
"The last half does not look good for digital camera makers," said one analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The market will remain flat, as consumer demand has been filled previously, the analyst said.
Even so, Premier Image, which saw gross margin of 12.29 percent for the first half, said it would not sacrifice profit in pursuit of higher shipments.
"Quality and control of core technology is essential [for constant development]," Liu said, we will focus on compact products or those of resolution over 5 mega-pixels.
Projector Sector
Meanwhile, the digital camera maker reported it had made inroads into the projector sector, part of a move to diversify its product lineup.
"As the digital camera industry becomes increasingly mature, diversification is necessary for local makers," the analyst said.
It's too early to say whether Premier's efforts will pay off, the analyst said.
The analyst added that the new product will not have a significant impact until it reaches 10 percent of revenue.
Currently the product contributes 3 percent. Premier Image is scheduled to ship over 50,000 projectors this year.
The company expects the number to rise five to seven-fold next year, in light of the fast-expanding projector market, with a projected compound annual growth rate of over 30 percent, Liu said.
To counter the slowdown in the digital camera sector, the company will also focus on manufacturing advanced camera modules for mobile phones with a resolution of 1.3 mega-pixels and 2.1 mega-pixels, as well as key optical components like lenses, he said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS