Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s fourth-largest PC vendor, yesterday reported a third-quarter net profit of NT$68 million (US$2.3 million), up 21 percent quarter-on-quarter, and earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.03, up 50 percent from the previous quarter.
However, operating income was NT$345 million in the third quarter, down 20 percent quarter-on-quarter and 127 percent year-on-year, while consolidated revenue was NT$104.4 billion, down 5.6 percent compared with the second quarter, but up 11.4 percent from a year ago, the company said in a statement.
That meant the company posted a worse-than-expected operating margin of 0.33 percent in the third quarter, compared with the 0.4 percent in the second quarter, the company's data showed.
The Taipei-based Acer did not provide explanations about its third-quarter results, nor did it give its business guidance for this quarter. The company is expected to release details of its results and an earnings outlook on Thursday, when it is scheduled to hold an investors’ conference in Taipei.
On Aug. 17, Acer chairman and chief executive officer Wang Jeng-tang (王振堂) said the company would likely have a flat performance in the third quarter compared with the second quarter.
He projected sequential growth of 5 percent to 10 percent in the fourth-quarter due to Windows 8 product launches, but said the company did not expect “explosive growth” for handheld devices running the Microsoft Corp’s new operating system.
Last week, market researcher International Data Corp said in a report that all PC vendors “are anxious to see the new operating system deliver on its promise of fueling momentum in the PC market.”
For the first three quarters of the year, Acer saw its consolidated revenue decline 5.7 percent to NT$328 billion from a year ago, while its operating income reached NT$916 million, up 114 percent year-on-year.
Acer stock dropped 0.9 percent to close at NT$26.95 in Taipei trading yesterday before the figures were released.
The company’s stock is down 0.19 percent this quarter and 24.72 percent this year, according to Taiwan Stock Exchange data.
(Additional reporting by George Liao)
US PROBE: The Information reported that the US Department of Commerce is investigating whether the firm made advanced chips for China’s Huawei Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract maker of advanced chips, yesterday said it is a law-abiding company, and is committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations including export controls. The Hsinchu-based chip giant issued the statement after US news Web site The Information ran a story saying that the US Department of Commerce has launched a probe into TSMC over whether it breached export rules by making smartphone or artificial intelligence (AI) chips for China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為). “We maintain a robust and comprehensive export system for monitoring and ensuring compliance,” the statement said. “If we
DEMAND FOR AI CHIPS: Net income in the third quarter surged 31.2% quarter-on-quarter to NT$325.26 billion, the strongest quarterly return in the company’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday raised its revenue forecast to annual growth of 30 percent this year, thanks to strong and sustainable demand for artificial intelligence (AI) processors for servers. It was the second upward adjustment from 25 percent year-on-year growth estimated three months ago, despite recent concerns about whether the AI boom could be another technology bubble. “The demand is real. It’s real. And I believe it is just the beginning of this demand. Alright, so one of my key customers said the demand right now is ‘insane,’” TSMC chairman and chief executive C.C.
Starbucks Corp might have the more recognizable name, but 7-Eleven’s City Cafe remains the king of Taiwan’s fresh coffee market, helped by the convenience store chain’s extensive market presence and product diversification. President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商), which runs both the 7-Eleven and Starbucks store chains in Taiwan, established the City Cafe brand in 2004. The brand took off when actress Gwei Lun-mei (桂綸鎂) became its spokesperson in 2007. City Cafe’s sales exceeded NT$10 billion (US$311.69 million) for the first time in 2015, surpassing the revenue of Starbucks Taiwan, and rose to more than NT$17 billion last year, exceeding the NT$14.98
COUNTRY-BASED: Setting ceilings on sales of the technology would tighten limits that originally targeted China’s ambitions in artificial intelligence amid security risks US officials have discussed capping sales of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Nvidia Corp and other American companies on a country-specific basis, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would limit some nations’ AI capabilities. The new approach would set a ceiling on export licenses for some countries in the interest of national security, according to the people, who described the private discussions on condition of anonymity. Officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden focused on Persian Gulf countries that have a growing appetite for AI data centers and the deep pockets to fund them, the people