PC vendor Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said its notebook computer shipments would grow 40 percent annually this quarter, while shipments of PC components, such as graphic cards and motherboards, would decline by a single-digit percentage from last quarter.
“We are seeing healthy orders from customers in the first half of this year,” co-CEO Samsun Hu (胡書賓) told an investors’ conference in Taipei. “Supply constraints related to key components are gradually improving to a manageable level. Only power ICs and chips from a US supplier remain scarce.”
In line with the improvement in supply chains, channel inventory is mostly returning to pre-COVID-19 levels of eight to 12 weeks, Hu said.
Photo: Wu Pei-hua, Taipei Times
Three months ago, there was a 30 percent shortfall, he said.
For this year, Asustek expects its notebook computer shipments to grow and outperform the global PC industry’s decline of a single-digit percentage, as the company has a larger exposure to gaming computers, it said.
Gaming computers made up about 40 percent of the company’s total notebook computer shipments last year, Asustek said.
Gaming PCs is one of two major growing areas in the PC industry, with an annual growth rate of 19 percent last year, the company said.
Commercial PCs is another growing area and Asustek is boosting its market presence there, it said.
Asustek reported that net profit last year soared 68 percent to NT$44.55 billion (US$1.56 billion), compared with NT$26.56 billion in 2020. Earnings per share climbed to NT$60, up from NT$35.8 the previous year.
The company’s board of directors has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$42 per share, suggesting a payout ratio of about 70 percent.
Asustek said network equipment manufacturing arm Askey Computer Corp (亞旭) might swing back to the red again this quarter, as production lines were suspended for one month after some workers tested positive for COVID-19.
The losses could be about NT$100 million, Hu said.
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