Hon Hai Precision Industry (鴻海精密) topped the list of listed companies that had declared their annual revenue as of Friday, with NT$1.42 trillion (US$44.56 billion), followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), at more than NT$750 billion, the Chinese-language United Evening News reported yesterday.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電) fell to ninth place, with Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) coming in tenth with an annual revenue of NT$232.5 billion. Eighteen of the top 20 companies on the list reported annual revenues of more than NT$100 billion.
The report said that among the top 20 companies, only notebook and panel manufacturers reported revenue growth. Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦), Wistron Corp (緯創), Inventec Appliances Corp (英華達) and Innolux Display Corp (群創光電) all reported growth in notebook sales last year. Hon Hai topped the list in terms of revenue last month, with revenues of more than NT$133 billion, followed by Quanta at NT$86.3 billion. These figures, however, represent slight drops in revenue compared with December 2008.
Hsu Chia-hao (�?�) of Capital OTC (群益店頭市場基金) said listed companies’ declared last month’s revenues were better than expected, mostly because of the Christmas holiday season in the West and New Year retail takings in China, which were up by between 20 percent and 30 percent. New products on the market this year also drove up consumer activity and saw peaks in sales for many leading companies.
Slow production in the past year has meant that inventories were low, but with Lunar New Year coming up next month, many manufacturers anticipate an improvement in the situation.
Forecasts for the first quarter of this year, Hsu said, are continued growth for makers of notebooks and mobile phones, as well as component makers.
Semiconductor manufacturers with good capital investment can also expect to grow, Hsu said.
With the Asia-driven recovery in global demand over the last year, manufacturers who had previously reduced output in response to the unfavorable economic climate are expected to resume activity — and in some cases to expand — production volume.
Capital investment by semiconductor manufacturers is expected to increase by more than 40 percent this year, a figure that is expected to reach 81 percent in the DRAM industry. All eyes will be on companies with bullish trading outlooks and niche products.
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