Inventec Corp (英業達), one of the two assemblers for Apple Inc’s HomePod, has started shipping the US company’s long-awaited “smart” speaker with an initial shipment of about 1 million units, industry sources said.
“The Taiwanese company has begun HomePod shipments. However, revenue contribution from the product to Inventec is expected to be limited this quarter, as the initial shipment is not large,” a source in HomePod’s supply chain told the Taipei Times by telephone on condition of anonymity.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is the other assembler of HomePods.
HomePod shipments this year are expected to reach between 10 million and 12 million units, with Inventec and Hon Hai each fulfilling half of the orders, the source said.
Apple unveiled its first voice-controlled smart speaker during the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June last year.
HomePod was previously scheduled to hit the markets before the end of last year, but Apple in November issued a statement saying that it needed more time before the product is ready for customers.
Apple at the time said the product would be available early this year in the US, UK and Australia. It did not specify a time frame.
The delay in HomePod’s launch was caused by the fine-tuning of software and hardware integration, said another industry source who also declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
As the companies in HomePod’s supply chain received a shipment notice from Apple at the beginning of this month, it is believed that the product is to hit the markets soon, the second source said.
Apple had not updated HomePod release information on its Web site as of yesterday.
Inventec and Hon Hai declined to comment on the matter.
In related news, Inventec said it expects revenue to contract by 15 percent this quarter from last quarter’s NT$132.66 billion (US$4.49 billion), as the industry enters a traditional slow season.
Inventec manufactures a wide range of electronics from notebook computers, servers and smartphones, to wearables and wireless earpieces.
In addition to HomePod, Inventec assembles Apple’s AirPod.
Shares of Inventec gained 0.43 percent to close at NT$23.3 in Taipei trading yesterday, while Hon Hai rose 1.63 percent to NT$93.3. The TAIEX rose 0.66 percent.
Apple Inc might make one out of four iPhones in India by 2025, JPMorgan & Chase Co analysts said yesterday, as the tech giant moves some production away from China, amid mounting geopolitical tensions and strict COVID-19 lockdowns in the country. JPMorgan expects Apple to move about 5 percent of iPhone 14 production from late this year to India, which is the second-biggest smartphone market in the world after China. It is also estimating that about 25 percent of all Apple products, including Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, would be manufactured outside China by 2025 from 5 percent currently. The US company
HEADING SOUTH: The US company chose Kaohsiung as its site as more customers, partners and start-ups have expanded their operations to the southern city Qualcomm Inc yesterday inaugurated a new innovation center in Kaohsiung as it steps up efforts to foster local start-ups and a 5G technology ecosystem in the city, following in the footsteps of its local partners. The US chip company’s move fits the Kaohsiung City Government’s plan to build a semiconductor supply chain within the next five years, highlighted by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) first chip plant in the city. TSMC plans to start building the factory by the end of this year, and to start production of 28-nanometer and 7-nanometer chips there in 2024. Qualcomm said it had been
SLUMPING DEMAND: Inventory has climbed by up to 12 weeks as suppliers are under mounting pressure to offload excessive reserves, a TrendForce report said The price of DRAM chips is expected to fall at a steeper rate of 13 to 18 percent next quarter, as high inflation continues to weigh on demand for consumer electronics, causing chip inventories to soar, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. The downtrend in DRAM prices could extend from a quarterly decline of 10 to 15 percent in the third quarter, the Taipei-based researcher said. “Demand for consumer electronics continued to stagnate during the third quarter, which used to be a high demand season,” TrendForce said in a statement. “During the quarter, memorychip consumption and shipments both showed quarterly
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in July made its consumer health products division a separate entity as it transforms into a world-leading biopharmaceutical company. By uniting science, technology and talent, the company is aiming to prevent and treat diseases with innovative vaccines, specialty pharmaceuticals and general medicines. GSK’s headquarters annually invests NT$192 billion (US$6.07 billion) in research and development, focusing on immune science and advanced technologies in human genetics. GSK’s drug and vaccine development focuses on infectious diseases, HIV, oncology and immunology. Investing in clinical trial research each year, GSK also brings drug development to Taiwan. It cooperates with 17 medical institutes and research
RSS