Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 6 PC brand, yesterday said it is expecting flat to 5 percent growth in second-quarter revenue over the first three months, on the back of steady notebook shipments and a strong reception for its first tablet computer.
The company reported sales of NT$73.9 billion (US$2.6 billion) in the first three months, down 12 percent quarter-on-quarter and a decline of 8 percent year-on-year.
Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s No. 2 PC brand, said on Thursday it expects sales to drop 5 percent sequentially this quarter.
Asustek said its Eee Pad Transformer was selling like hotcakes in the US on channels including Amazon.com Inc and BestBuy. The company now expects total shipments of the Transformer tablet to exceed 300,000 units for the quarter.
“We have been resolving component shortages for the past month [in the wake of Japan’s double disasters on March 11] and volumes of the Transformer will pick up soon,” CEO Jerry Shen (沈振來) told an investor conference.
Daily production output of the Transformer tablet is set to hit 100,000 units from next week onwards after steady component supplies were secured, he said, adding that daily output this week was 50,000 units.
Asustek expects to ship more than 300,000 Transformers this quarter.
“The strength and user experience of this product will help us achieve the shipment goal,” he said.
The company said its first tablet is currently the top seller in the tablet category on Amazon.com, dwarfing Motorola Inc’s Xoom and Samsung Electronics Inc’s Galaxy Tab.
Asustek is betting on the Transformer — a 10-inch Android 3.0 machine with a detachable keyboard docking station — as its anchor tablet model.
Development of the second and third generation of the Transformer has begun as Asustek aims to sell 2 million tablets by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the firm’s shipments of notebooks, including its Eee PC netbooks, are expected to rise to 4.4 million this quarter, up from 4.1 million over the prior three months.
Asustek shipped 4.6 million laptops in the fourth quarter last year, according to company statistics.
It reported NT$3.4 billion in first-quarter net income, down 15 percent from the prior quarter because of non-operating losses incurred by manufacturing arm Pegatron Corp (和碩).
Gross profit was 15.5 percent and operating margin was 4.7 percent in the first quarter, both a six-quarter high.
Asustek also plans to beef up its presence in emerging markets to ensure stable notebook shipments, especially in Mexico, India, China and Brazil.
In China, the company has added 800 new sales channels so far to cast a wider sales network.
“Our Chinese motherboard users are also showing a fondness for our notebooks … We have a strong student following in the mainland,” Shen said.
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