Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world’s second-largest notebook computer contract maker, yesterday said it was maintaining growth of 40 percent in laptop shipments and was still looking to hit its whole-year goal of 50 million units despite slower demand in the second half.
“The sequential growth of third-quarter shipments will be in the range of 5 percent to minus 5 percent, while the fourth quarter will remain flat to the third quarter, or may rise slightly, given the current order visibility,” Quanta vice chairman C.C. Leung (梁次震) told reporters.
The company said previously that it expected third-quarter shipments to grow 10 percent to 15 percent from the second quarter.
Quanta, which assembles the iPod Touch, Macbooks and iMacs, shipped 11 million portable computers in the first three months and 13.7 million in the second quarter, taking its half-year total to 24.7 million.
The PC cycle this year detours from past patterns in which the peak period traditionally falls in the second half, Leung said.
The weaker-than-expected PC demand in the third quarter could be caused by fluctuations in the euro and lackluster back-to-school sales, he said.
The company’s cautious outlook for the second half came after US chip giant Intel Corp last week cut its sales forecast for the third quarter, citing weaker-than-expected consumer PC demand in both the US and Europe.
Yesterday, Gartner Inc revised downward its growth forecast for PC shipments in the second half by about 2 percent to 15.3 percent, the Stamford, Connecticut-based market researcher said in a press release.
For the full year, however, Gartner said it still expected worldwide PC shipments to rise 19 percent to 367.8 million units from 308.3 million units last year, according to the release.
Quanta yesterday reported its second-quarter earnings rose 4 percent from a year earlier to NT$5.1 billion (US$159 million), but was down 4 percent from the first three months.
The gross margin, a key gauge of profitability, fell to 3.4 percent during the second quarter, from 4.1 percent in the prior period and 6.2 percent last year.
Spokesman Elton Yang (楊俊烈) attributed the drop to higher material costs and shortages of components and said margins would decline slightly next year amid intense competition.
Quanta’s second-quarter revenues climbed 63 percent from a year earlier and 17 percent from the first quarter to NT$295 billion.
Leung yesterday also confirmed media reports that it has reutilized an idle production facility across the street from its headquarters in Linkou (林口), Taipei County, to conduct testing of consumer electronics products that are technologically advanced.
This will save the company from sending staffers to facilities in China for product testing, he said.
In addition to its current Chinese facilities in Changsu and Songjiang — both in the outskirts of Shanghai — Quanta said it expects the third facility in Chongqing to begin mass production by the fourth quarter. The new facility will primarily turn out laptop computers.
Quanta is also filing an application with government agencies to set up a fourth facility in Beijing, which would be dedicated to the development of cloud computing software, according to company sources.
The company is eyeing the software talent pool in Beijing, as well as possible funds from the Beijing government, which is pushing for government related cloud computing solutions, sources said.
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