Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), the world’s top contract laptop maker, yesterday predicted that its notebook shipments would grow 10 percent to 11.55 million units this quarter from 10.5 million units in the previous quarter as clients enter new product cycles.
The company said it remains unclear whether the growth momentum will last through next quarter, due to low visibility.
However, Quanta is set to mass-produce new low-priced notebook products for some clients in the next quarter, vice chairman C.C. Leung (梁次震) said.
“Industry-wide, global notebook shipments are forecast to flatten this year from last year in the best-case scenario, despite the rise of mobile devices,” Leung told a press conference.
“Quanta aims to deliver about the same volume of notebook shipments this year as last year and we strive to outperform our competitors, despite weakening market demand for notebooks,” he added.
Quanta counts US-based Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) and Apple Inc, and Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) as its major clients.
The company’s notebook shipments hit a record high of 55.2 million units in 2011, but fell for the second consecutive year to 43.1 million units of notebooks last year due to decreased demand amid the rise of smartphones and tablets.
Leung said Quanta started manufacturing different forms of notebooks for clients last year — including Chromebooks and two-in-one detachable hybrid notebooks — in search of new sales sources.
The Gueishan Township (龜山), Taoyuan County-based company expects its sales this quarter to continue achieving year-on-year growth with an increasingly diversified product mix and holds a positive view on its business during the second half of the year.
In view of falling demand for notebooks, Quanta has shifted its business focus to non-notebook products, such as tablets, servers and TVs, over the past few years.
Leung said he expects sales of non-PC products to grow to account for more than 35 percent of Quanta’s total sales this year.
While Quanta aims to grow its tablet shipments to more than 20 million units this year, from 15 million units last year, the company expects servers to become its new non-notebook sales drivers, mainly because the later yields more profits and has stronger demand, he added.
Last quarter, sales of tablets and servers together accounted for about 15 percent of Quanta’s total sales of NT$215.87 billion (US$7.16 million), Leung said, forecasting that the share would expand to more than 15 percent during the second half of the year, with servers being the driver.
Microsoft Corp and Facebook Inc are on Quanta’s server client list, in addition to enterprises that run larger data centers, Leung said.
According to the company’s financial statement released yesterday, Quanta generated a net profit of NT$4.67 billion during the January-to-March quarter, down 14.8 percent quarter-on-quarter, but up 5 percent year-on-year.
The company posted earnings per share of NT$1.21 for the first quarter of the year, compared to NT$1.42 a quarter ago and NT$1.16 during the same period of last year.
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