Quanta Computer Inc’s (廣達) revenue is expected to top NT$100 billion (US$3 billion) this month, driven by growing demand for Apple Inc’s Apple Watch and notebook computer products from other brands, analysts said.
“Apple Watch’s arrival in three more countries this month will surely benefit Quanta’s monthly sales performance,” a Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) analyst said by telephone.
Given that Quanta is the sole assembler for Apple Watch, the ramp-up in production from last month and the increasing exposure of the smartwatch worldwide will buoy the firm’s revenue, said the analyst, who declined to be named.
Apple on Friday launched the watch in Austria, Denmark and Ireland, making for a total of 25 countries since the watch hit the market on April 24.
The company on Friday said the timepiece will be go on sale in Belgium, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg and Poland on Oct. 9.
Quanta declined to disclose the shipment figures for Apple Watch.
According to International Data Corp’s statistics, Apple sold 3.6 million units of the watch in the second quarter of this year.
E.Sun Investment Consulting Co (玉山投顧) estimates shipments of Apple Watch will jump 25 percent quarterly to 4.5 million units this quarter.
“We expect the Apple Watch shipments to continue climbing next quarter because of the upcoming Christmas holiday. The annual shipments of Apple Watch could reach 13.2 million units,” E.Sun analyst Keting Chen (陳科廷) said in a note released on Sept. 17.
Notebook computers remain Quanta’s major revenue source, making up 65 of total sales, and Chen expects its notebook shipments to increase this month over last month’s 4.1 million, benefiting from demand for new products that run Intel Corp’s Skylake processor.
“Quanta’s notebook shipments rose 28 percent monthly to 4.1 million in August, and we expect the growth momentum to extend into this month to 4.4 million units,” Chen said.
He said Quanta’s notebook shipments might climb 8.41 percent to 11.6 million units this quarter from last quarter’s 10.7 million units.
Quanta earlier guided a low single-digit percentage increase in notebook shipments for this quarter, citing uncertainty about the stimulus from Microsoft Corp’s new Windows 10 operating system.
Yuanta also expects higher notebook shipments for Quanta this quarter and consequently a larger revenue contribution to the company.
As cumulative revenue for July and last month totaled NT$174.56 billion, and revenue this month may exceed NT$100 billion, Quanta’s revenue for this quarter is expected to grow more than 7 percent from last quarter, Yuanta said, compared with market consensus estimates of 9 percent.
Quanta shares fell 0.7 percent to NT$57.1 in Taipei trading on Friday.
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