The launch of Microsoft Corp’s Windows 11 operating system is expected to trigger a “back to the office” wave of PC purchases once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) said yesterday.
“Microsoft usually tried to make its new operating systems compatible with existing computer hardware. However, the many new features of Windows 11 demand a certain threshold of hardware specifications. Therefore we can expect to see a wave of upgrades for machines as offices upgrade to Windows 11,” Asustek co-CEO S.Y. Hsu (許先越) told an online investors’ conference in Taipei.
Some analysts have warned of a decline in PC sales once a work-from-home trend due to the pandemic subsides.
Photo: CNA
However, Hsu said that Asustek expects consistently high PC sales next year.
“We don’t think next year will be worse than this year,” Hsu said. “There could be single-digit percentage changes in either direction.”
The company’s growth strategy in the PC market would be based on diversification, Hsu said.
“In the past, we primarily focused on the consumer market. Now we are cultivating the commercial and the distance learning markets,” he said.
Asustek’s Republic of Gamers series has sold well to performance-conscious gamers, he said, adding that another target group would be content creators.
Industry-wide components and raw material shortages have also affected Asustek, with component shortages of “20 to 30 percent” expected to last until the end of this year, Hsu said.
Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) said that the firm’s operational efficiency in the second quarter “surpassed expectations.”
“Despite the shortages, every single product line contributed to our growth,” Wu said.
Net profit was NT$11.37 billion (US$408.3 million), up 16 percent quarter-on-quarter and 114 percent year-on-year, or record earnings per share of NT$15.3, Wu said, attributing the increase partly to cryptocurrency earnings and foreign exchange rate gains.
However, Asustek reported investment losses of NT$880 million in subsidiary Askey Computer Corp (亞旭電腦), which makes high-end routers and networking equipment, Wu said.
“It was hard for Askey to transition to 5G amid the components shortage,” he said.
Asustek’s handset unit, which has posted losses for several years, broke even last quarter, Hsu said.
However, it is uncertain whether the unit would remain profitable, despite shipments being expected to increase to 1 million units per year from about 500,000 last year, he said.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
Nvidia Corp’s negotiations to invest as much as US$100 billion in OpenAI have broken down, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, exposing a potential rift between two of the most powerful companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. The discussions stalled after some inside Nvidia expressed concerns about the transaction, the WSJ reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the deliberations. OpenAI makes the popular chatbot ChatGPT, while Nvidia dominates the market for AI processors that help develop such software. The companies announced the agreement in September last year, saying at the time that they had signed a letter of intent for a strategic
RSS