Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said that its net income for its brand business nearly doubled last year on the back of improved business operations, narrowing losses in its mobile phone business, and growing shipments of gaming and ultra-light laptops.
As profit surged 194 percent annually to NT$2.63 billion (US$86.87 million) last quarter, net income last year jumped 187 percent to NT$12.14 billion, Asustek said.
Earnings per share soared from NT$5.7 to NT$16.3 and gross margin rose from 10.6 percent to 13.4 percent, it said.
Although revenue of its brand business last quarter inched up slightly by 1 percent to NT$89.29 billion, full-year revenue declined 6 percent from NT$352.45 billion in 2018 to NT$332.53 billion last year, Asustek said.
Buoyed by the results, Asustek yesterday maintained a confident outlook regarding market demand in the long term, while forecasting a sequential decline in sales this quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PC sales are expected to fall by up to 40 percent quarter-on-quarter, while components sales would contract by 5 percent, the company said.
“COVID-19 is a big challenge and will impact business in the short term,” Asustek co-CEO S.Y. Hsu (許先越) told investors, adding that the company is facing a decline in demand and difficulties in securing supplies.
“In the mid-term, we expect to see an increase in demand due to the recent rise in distance-leaning and telecommuting,” Hsu said.
“Overall market demand will undoubtedly falter if the virus remains at large … but we [will be able] to rise to such challenges through continuous product innovations and improvements to our operational efficiency,” he said.
“We are [still] seeing positive factors this year, including an end to the shortage of central processing units as well as mining processors … we are also entering a new PC cycle,” Hsu said.
Asustek would continue to focus on developing gaming and ultra-thin laptops, as well as expanding its content creator product line, ProArt, he said.
The company has secured orders for its smart healthcare, smart manufacturing and smart retail solutions, Hsu said.
Asustek’s board of directors yesterday proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$14 per share.
Separately yesterday, rival PC maker Acer Inc (宏碁) posted net profit of NT$2.63 billion for last quarter, a 13.98 percent decline from the previous year, with earnings per share falling to NT$0.87.
The company’s board of directors has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$0.77 per common share.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS