Bolstered by growing orders for smart devices and notebook computers, contract electronics manufacturer Inventec Corp (英業達) yesterday said it expects revenue this quarter to remain at the same high level as last quarter.
“We expect shipments of smart devices to keep driving Inventec’s growth this quarter, backed by holiday shopping demand,” an Inventec investor relations officer said by telephone, but declined to provide a shipment range.
Smart devices — including smartphones, smart wristbands, wireless earphones and smart speakers — accounted for more than 15 percent of Inventec’s total revenue, company data showed.
The company’s smart devices segment has more than 20 clients, including Apple Inc, Xiaomi Corp (小米) and Fitbit Inc.
It is widely believed that Inventec is the sole manufacturer of Apple’s AirPods and one of the manufacturers of the US company’s smart speaker, the HomePod.
Inventec’s smart devices production lines in China’s Nanjing and Shanghai have been running at the full capacity since the beginning of this year, mainly driven by robust demand for AirPods and Xiaomi smartphones, a source at Inventec, who requested anonymity as the firm is not allowed to talk about its clients, told the Taipei Times.
David Ho (何代水), chief executive officer of Inventec smart device subsidiary Inventec Appliance Corp (英華達), in August told investors that the company expects revenue and profit from smart devices to increase by a double-digit percentage this year.
Inventec also expects notebook shipments this quarter to remain at the same level as last quarter’s 4.6 million units, on the back of steady demand for commercial models, the investor relations officer said.
However, server shipments, which accounted for 30 percent of the company’s total revenue, are expected to decline slightly this quarter after hitting their peak last quarter.
The company on Friday reported combined revenue of NT$123.95 billion (US$4.08 billion) for the July-to-September quarter, up 11.01 percent annually and 11.47 percent quarterly.
The quarterly sales performance marked the company’s highest since the fourth quarter of 2013, company data showed.
Revenue in the first nine months of the year expanded 6.8 percent to NT$334.83 billion from the same period last year, data showed.
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