Computer vendor Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said it aims to return to the black this quarter after its inventory reduced to a stable level, and it narrowed quarterly losses last quarter amid a fragile pickup in consumer demand.
The projection is better than its estimates two months ago. Asustek told investors in March that operating margin would drift into negative territory in the first two quarters of this year.
As the company reduced its inventory to a manageable level last quarter, Asustek said that there is a high likelihood that its bottom line would reach a break-even point this quarter, earlier than expected.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
The company’s inventory dropped 40 percent year-on-year to NT$115.85 billion (US$3.77 billion), it said.
Asustek plans to maintain inventory at a similar level this quarter, as it is preparing for a peak in seasonal demand in the second half of this year, it said.
The company posted about NT$900 million in reversal of inventory write-downs during the January-March period, reflecting the company’s strong inventory management, it said.
“The industry’s overall inventory has improved and is approaching a healthy level, with channel stockpile dropping to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels,” Asustek chief executive officer Samson Hu (胡書賓) told an investors’ conference yesterday.
“Inventory is not a crucial problem. Market demand is our focus,” Hu said. “During the second quarter, we are seeing demand creep up. Supply chains remain conservative about pulling products.”
PC shipments are to expand 20 percent sequentially during this quarter, supported by recovering demand from consumer models and gaming computers, Asustek said.
Entering the sector’s peak season next quarter, the company expects PC shipments to grow by a double-digit percentage, it said.
Shipments of motherboards and graphics cards are to contract 5 percent quarter-on-quarter during this quarter, which is better than a double-digit percentage decline previously posted during the slack season, it said.
PCs accounted for 59 percent of the company’s total revenue last quarter, while motherboards and graphics cards made up 40 percent, it said, adding that smartphones accounted for 1 percent.
The company posted a quarterly loss of NT$1.68 billion last quarter, compared with a loss of NT$3.82 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. That was the second unprofitable quarter for the PC brand based in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投).
Earnings per share were minus -NT$2.3 last quarter, an improvement on minus-NT$5.1 in the previous quarter.
During the first quarter of last year, the company posted net profit of NT$10.43 billion, or earnings per share of NT$14.
Operating profit margin improved to minus-3.6 percent last quarter, from minus-4.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year — down from 7.9 percent a year earlier.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has secured three construction permits for its plan to build a state-of-the-art A14 wafer fab in Taichung, and is likely to start construction soon, the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, Wang Chun-chieh (王俊傑), deputy director general of the science park bureau, said the world’s largest contract chipmaker has received three construction permits — one to build a fab to roll out sophisticated chips, another to build a central utility plant to provide water and electricity for the facility and the other to build three office buildings. With the three permits, TSMC
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
RSS