Inventec Corp (英業達) chairman Richard Lee (李詩欽) yesterday confirmed the company is making Xiaomi Inc’s (小米) first notebook computer product in China, with shipments set to begin in the first half of next year.
“I am upbeat about the business outlook for Xiaomi’s notebook computers, as the firm has more than 200 million registered smartphone users,” Lee told reporters on the sidelines of the 12th cross-strait forum on technical standards for information technology held in New Taipei City.
Lee said Xiaomi is likely to adopt the same smartphone business strategy for its laptop products — which is different from other companies’ conventional way of selling servers, desktop and notebook computers.
“I am not sure if the smartphone approach will be applicable to notebooks, but I expect Xiaomi’s entry into the notebook industry to bring something new to the market,” Lee said.
Subsidiary Inventec Appliance Corp (英華達), which assembles Xiaomi’s smartphones, is to jointly design and manufacture the Chinese company’s first notebook products in Inventec’s plants in China, Lee said.
“We will start shipping Xiaomi’s notebook computers in the first or second quarter of next year,” he added.
Commenting on Inventec’s near-term business outlook, Lee said next quarter’s sales are likely to be flat or even decline from this quarter, because of few product launches by its clients.
“Given that some of Inventec’s clients are scheduled to launch new products at the end of next quarter, sales contributions from the new products will be limited next quarter, but should become significant next year,” he said.
Inventec president Huang Kuo-chun (黃國鈞) last month said that sales for this quarter would grow significantly from the second quarter’s NT$90.62 billion (US$2.75 billion), supported by growing orders for commercial notebooks, smart devices and servers.
Local media have reported that Inventec is joining the supply chain of US company Fitbit Inc’s wearable products as a joint design manufacturer.
Lee did not confirm or deny such speculation, but said the company would start shipping wearable products for a new client next quarter.
Overall, the company’s combined sales in the second half of this year would still be better than the NT$179.99 billion it made in the first half of this year, he said.
Inventec shares rose 1.2 percent to close at NT$16.90 in Taipei trading yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which edged up 0.71 percent.
INVESTOR RESILIENCE? An analyst said that despite near-term pressures, foreign investors tend to view NT dollar strength as a positive signal for valuation multiples Morgan Stanley has flagged a potential 10 percent revenue decline for Taiwan’s tech hardware sector this year, as a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar begins to dent the earnings power of major exporters. In what appears to be the first such warning from a major foreign brokerage, the US investment bank said the currency’s strength — fueled by foreign capital inflows and expectations of US interest rate cuts — is compressing profit margins for manufacturers with heavy exposure to US dollar-denominated revenues. The local currency has surged about 10 percent against the greenback over the past quarter and yesterday breached
MARKET FACTORS: Navitas Semiconductor Inc said that Powerchip is to take over from TSMC as its supplier of high-voltage gallium nitride chips Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday in a statement said that it would phase out its compound semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) business over the next two years, citing market dynamics. The decision would not affect its financial targets announced previously, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker said. “We are working closely with our customers to ensure a smooth transition and remain committed to meeting their needs during this period,” it said. “Our focus continues to be on delivering sustained value to our partners and the market.” TSMC’s latest move came unexpectedly, as the chipmaker had said in its annual report that it has
Rick Cassidy, the chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's (TSMC, 台積電) US subsidiary, TSMC Arizona Corp, plans to retire, but the company has yet to name a successor. After Cassidy made his intention to retire known, TSMC Arizona held a special general meeting and approved a resolution that Cassidy would not continue as chairman and would not remain as a director, TSMC said in a statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange last night. The meeting also approved a plan to appoint TSMC Arizona president Rose Castanares as a director, the company said, adding that Cassidy has been named as an advisor
SECURITY WARNING: The company possesses key 3-nanometer technology, and Taiwan should prevent it from being transferred to China, a lawmaker said The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it would conduct a “strict review” of any proposed acquisition of Taiwanese tech company Source Photonics Co (索爾思光電), following media reports that a Chinese firm was planning to buy the company in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區). Local media reported that Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co (東山精密), China’s largest printed circuit board manufacturer, had announced plans to acquire Source Photonics for 5.9 billion yuan (US$823.1 million). The ministry said it has not received an application from Source Photonics and has formally notified the company that any buyout would constitute a change in its ownership structure. The
RSS