"I have been fidgety of late and have developed a hot temper," Kinpo Group (
For the 64-year-old, who has been perceived by the media as a gentle and softspoken chairman, the ebullience is a result of his eagerness to drive the group's growth in the near future.
"We have superb resources and top management and we should be able to grow at a very fast pace," he said.
PHOTO: CHEN CHUN-LIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
He made his remarks to reporters on the sidelines of an affiliate's annual dance and dinner party last Saturday held at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall II.
During the party, Hsu declared to over 2,000 Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦) employees that the Kinpo Group was aiming to reach US$21 billion sales this year, up from last year's US$16 billion.
Last year's figure already represented an annual growth of 32 percent.
Hsu said that Kinpo was hoping to increase annual sales by US$4 billion each year and to double its sales to US$32 billion by 2010.
"I feel the pressure and I expect every affiliate to achieve sales growth of 35 percent to 40 percent every year so that we can reach that target," Hsu said.
Kinpo, a well-established high-tech conglomerate, makes products ranging from flat panels, power supplies and printers, to portable computer, monitors, mobile phones and also offers telecom services.
Set up in 1973, its first business, Kinpo Electronics Inc (金寶電子), manufactured calculators.
Over the past 34 years, the group has expanded to 23 subsidiaries and counts 60,000 employees. Its subsidiaries include big names such as Compal Electronics, the world's second-largest portable computer maker, Vibo Telecom Inc (威寶電信), the nation's leading third-generation telecom operator and Compal Communications Inc (華寶通訊), the nation's largest contract handset maker.
Other subsidiaries include AcBel Polytech Inc (康舒科技) and Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Pub Co Ltd (泰金寶), which make PHS (personal handy-phone system) phones.
Six of its subsidiaries are listed firms. Two more will be listed this year and that number will grow to 10 firms by 2010, Hsu said.
Although it was a pioneer in the production of digital cameras and global positioning systems (GPS), Kinpo has lost out in those fields to Premier Image Technology Corp (
In a bid to avoid history repeating itself in other fields, Hsu is determined to enhance the group's competitive edge in the industry.
"In the business world there are always challenges. To ensure sustainability, an enterprise has to know where the risks are," he said, adding that statistics showed that 47 of the top 100 Taiwanese enterprises had vanished during the 1993 to 2002 period.
To achieve more growth, Kinpo will embark on a series of mergers and acquisitions this year, especially in the network equipment and automotive electronics fields.
Network has become critical in the integration of computers, communications and consumer electronics products, Hsu said, while auto electronics is a fast-growing industry offering tremendous business opportunities.
He said that both Kinpo Electronics and Compal Electronics will form new divisions to focus on the auto electronics segment, with initial products including displays and GPS.
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