Contract laptop makers Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) last month reported noticeably muted sales, attributing the trend to unresolved component shortages and logistics woes.
Quanta, the world’s biggest contract notebook computer maker, yesterday posted consolidated revenue of NT$84.72 billion (US$3.05 billion) for last month, down 10 percent month-on-month and 20.1 percent year-on-year.
The company shipped 5.5 million notebook computers, down 6.8 percent month-on-month and 12.7 percent year-on-year, a new monthly low for this year.
Photo: Screen grab from Web site of Quanta Computer Inc
Cumulative revenue for the first eight months of this year was NT$708.71 billion, up 4.9 percent from NT$675.45 billion in the same period last year.
At its last investors’ conference, the company gave a “conservative” outlook, forecasting a 10 percent quarterly drop in shipments due to supply chain and logistics difficulties.
Its goal is to ship 18.3 million laptop computers this year, the same number as last year, it said.
With the traditional high season for the electronics industry coming up, the company said it expects supply chain issues to “remain tense” for at least seven to eight months, affecting its business despite healthy demand.
Meanwhile, Compal yesterday said that consolidated revenue fell 5.2 percent month-on-month to NT$102.39 billion last month, up 22 percent from August last year.
Consolidated revenue in the first eight months jumped 19.7 percent annually to NT$741.36 billion from NT$619.42 billion.
Compal last month shipped 4.7 million laptops, down 4.08 percent month-on-month, but up 34.28 percent year-on-year.
For the first eight months, the company shipped 28.42 percent more laptops, or 35.7 million units.
Although Compal also told investors that it is affected by supply chain shortages and logistics issues, it hopes to ship 10 percent more laptops during this quarter, compared with last quarter.
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
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,