Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), the world's biggest contract notebook computer maker, yesterday said it expects high-single-digit quarterly growth in shipments of notebook computers this quarter, driven by front-loading orders ahead of potential US tariff changes.
The company shipped 10.8 million units of notebook computers in the first quarter, down 2.7 percent quarterly but up 2.9 percent annually.
As some clients have advanced their orders in response to tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on April 2, which were later postponed for 90 days, while others are also adjusting their order schedules due to tariff concerns, there is room for growth in its second-quarter notebook shipments, a Quanta official told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Photo courtesy of Quanta Computer Inc
However, the company’s outlook for notebook shipments in the second half of the year is tempered by tariff uncertainty, pending further US policy developments, said the official, who declined to be named.
Quanta’s projection for its full-year notebook shipments still depends on clients’ order strategy, which varies from company to company, the official said.
Quanta shipped 3.8 million notebooks last month, up 15 percent from the previous month, but down 5 percent from a year earlier, the official said. Cumulative shipments in the first five months of the year totaled 17.9 million notebooks, according to the company.
“As consumer models still account for a large portion of our notebook shipments, purchasing behavior is affected by macroeconomic conditions,” the official said, adding that the company’s sales trend is closely tied to tariff developments.
Quanta, which supplies artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, said the outlook for its server business is positive, with the company starting initial shipments of GB200 servers in March and entering mass production of the product in the second quarter, as component supply has stabilized, the official said.
Asked whether Quanta had also encountered overheating with the new servers, after many of its peers reported the issue earlier this year, the official said the company would address such problems proactively.
“These problems test assemblers’ research-and-development capabilities, and could affect overall system stability, but we will do our best to address them,” the official said.
Quanta’s consolidated revenue last month rose 4.1 percent month-on-month, and 58.2 percent year-on-year, to NT$160.24 billion (US$5.36 billion), a record May figure in the company’s history. Cumulative revenue in the first five months increased 74.82 percent year-on-year to NT$799.93 billion, company data showed.
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