Two of the nation’s leading industrial PC solutions providers yesterday reported their best January sales on record, despite there being fewer working days due to the Lunar New Year holiday.
However, whether growth momentum can last remains to be seen as the global economy slows and the outlook for customer orders turns conservative.
Advantech Co’s (研華) consolidated revenue was NT$5.64 billion (US$188.1 million) last month, up 4.76 percent year-on-year and slightly higher than the previous month, the company said in a statement.
Photo courtesy of Advantech Co
Sales in Europe and Japan posted the highest growth, up 26 percent and 37 percent respectively from a year earlier, the company said.
North America also posted a single-digit percentage increase in revenue last month despite sticky inflation, said Advantech, which is the first regional industrial PC vendor dedicated to smart cities and the Internet of Things (IoT).
However, Taiwan, China and emerging markets performed relatively weakly due to the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, while the effect of China lifting its “zero COVID-19” policy is not yet certain, as the reopening is still in its early stage, the company said.
Advantech said three major business groups — embedded IoT, industrial cloud and video, and applied computing — showed double-digit percentage growth in sales last month from a year earlier.
However, the industrial IoT group and the service IoT group posted double-digit percentage drops in revenue due to a higher comparison base a year earlier, it added.
Ennoconn Corp (樺漢), an industrial computer subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), said its consolidated revenue for last month increased 23.4 percent annually to NT$8.85 billion.
The company provides hardware solutions for point-of-sale, banking automation, kiosk, lottery and industrial automation systems.
The company’s design and manufacturing unit reported a 27.1 percent increase in revenue last month from a year earlier, thanks mainly to robust European and US orders from financial and retail customers as well as those in the lottery, information and networking, and smart home businesses, Ennoconn said in a statement.
Two other major units — systems integration and brand business — also posted increases of 19.6 percent and 27.5 percent in revenue respectively, the company said.
While the company aims to maintain growth this year, last month’s revenue fell 29.7 percent from the previous month, and the company’s book-to-bill ratio dropped to 1.05-1.1 percent from 1.25-1.3 percent in the first half of last year, indicating slower growth momentum.
Meanwhile, rugged PC vendor Getac Holdings Corp (神基) yesterday reported that consolidated revenue last month fell 3.44 percent year-on-year to NT$2.55 billion, remaining flat from a month earlier.
Getac, which also produces mechanical parts, automotive components and aero fasteners, said outlook for mechanical parts is being affected by the weak demand for consumer electronics this year.
However, the company is confident in the growth prospects of the three other major product lines, it added.
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