Wistron Information Technology & Services Corp (WITSC, 緯創軟體) yesterday launched its first mobile app, Witsmart, bundled with a ZTE Corp (中興通訊) smartphone, in an attempt to expand the company’s customer base beyond corporate clients.
The company, 36 percent owned by notebook PC maker Wistron Corp (緯創), mainly provides consulting and information technology outsourcing services to companies including IBM Corp and Apple Inc.
“We expect the app business to be profitable this year,” WITSC CEO Ching Hsiao (蕭清志) told reporters after the product’s launch, citing robust demand for mobile entertainment apps.
Hsiao said Witsmart offers a free year of Fox International TV programming to users of ZTE’s Blade S6 Plus smartphone in Taiwan.
The app allows users to browse and make purchases, Hsiao said, adding that the nation’s leading online shopping firms, PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) and Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure Co (東森得易購), have joined the platform.
Chief financial officer Vincent Lee (李文詳) said ZTE is to share revenue with WITSC for every Blade S6 Plus sold in Taiwan, while the firm plans to charge the online shopping companies slotting fees for their goods to be featured in Witsmart.
Apart from ZTE, the company also plans to seek partnerships with other smartphone makers, Lee said, declining to disclose a timetable for the potential partnerships.
The company plans to launch the app in the Google Play store by the end of this year and in the Apple App Store next year, he added.
Hsiao said WITSC expects revenue this year to grow by 15 percent to 20 percent from last year’s NT$2.48 billion (US$79.8 million).
The company’s revenue in the first five months of this year totaled NT$1.02 billion, up 3.37 percent from the same period last year, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
In the first quarter of this year, the company saw net income decline by 4.23 percent to NT$26.88 million from NT$28.07 million in the same period last year, with earnings per share of NT$0.63, a drop from last year’s NT$0.66.
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