Inventec Corp (英業達) chairman Richard Lee (李詩欽) yesterday said the firm will see a quarterly decline in revenue this quarter due to fewer shipping days in this month, making this quarter the trough of this year.
After that, revenue will grow quarter-by-quarter, Lee said.
MOBILE DEMAND
Shipments are expected to decline this quarter from last quarter, but demand for all of Inventec’s product lines looks sustainable, Lee said.
“Sales and shipments will grow significantly from March, thanks to strong demand for handheld devices,” Lee told a media briefing on the sidelines of Inventec’s year-end party.
New orders for Inventec’s tablet devices will start to ship next quarter, which will boost revenues and shipments, Lee added.
Inventec has also sent samples of its latest smart devices to its major Chinese client Xiaomi Corp (小米), Lee said.
INDIA FACTORY
He said Inventec’s board has approved the leasing of a manufacturing plant in India’s Chennai Province to meet increasing orders from major clients. The new plant will begin operation in the second half of this year, he said.
The new plant will not only manufacture smartphones, but it is also expected to produce smart devices and Inventec’s other products, Lee said.
Lee said the company aims to ship a total of 100 million units including PCs and non-PC products this year, jumping 42 percent from last year’s 70 million units, driven by tablet and smart devices demand.
Revenue will grow at a slower pace because the average selling prices of the handheld devices are relatively cheaper than thos of PC products, Lee said.
He said he expects the revenue contribution from Inventec’s new smart devices to increase significantly from next year onward amid the rise of the Internet of Things.
XIAOMI NOTE
Capital Investment Management (群益投顧) said that despite the traditional slow season, it expects Inventec’s revenue for this quarter to decline only 1.68 percent from the last quarter because Xiaomi has placed orders to Inventec for its new handset, the Xiaomi Note.
Inventec’s earnings are expected to grow thanks to continued shipments of Xiaomi’s handsets, robust demand for servers and new orders for its PC-related products, Capital said in a client note released on Friday last week.
“Thanks to improved product mix, Inventec’s revenues and gross margin may both grow notably this year,” Capital said.
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