Industrial computer maker Nexcom International Co (新漢) yesterday said it expects flat revenue growth in the second half of this year due to geopolitical uncertainties and foreign-exchange fluctuations.
Customers have adopted a wait-and-see attitude amid global uncertainties over potential US tariffs, Nexcom chairman Clement Lin (林茂昌) said in a telephone interview with the Taipei Times.
Although the company saw front-loading in industrial computers in the second quarter, with customers absorbing the 10 percent tariff costs, that effect has largely tapered off, Lin said.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
The sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the US dollar hit the company’s second-quarter performance harder than the US tariffs, he said.
As the company held receivables in tens of millions of US dollars, each NT$1 gain cut gross margin by 5 percentage points, he said.
In response to the local currency’s appreciation, Nexcom raised prices for small and medium-sized clients to offset foreign-exchange losses, but could not immediately adjust pricing for larger clients due to long-term contracts, which the company would negotiate in future orders, Lin said.
The company did not use hedging tools for foreign-exchange risks, as market and global economic fluctuations are unpredictable and could lead to additional losses, he said.
Nexcom is not considering building new plants in the US or Southeast Asia, as it has not felt significant pressure, and information technology products typically face zero tariffs, he said.
Unless other countries follow the US’ lead, the impact on the company’s operations would remain limited, he said.
The company earlier this month reported that first-half revenue rose 34.73 percent year-on-year to NT$3.133 billion (US$106.6 million).
Nexcom’s robotics subsidiary, NexCOBOT (創博), is developing a functional safety robot joint module with motion control supplier Synapticon GmbH, Lin said, adding that integration testing and safety certification are under way and sample shipments are set for the fourth quarter.
The company expects to deliver small-volume orders of 100 to 200 units of the product per month in the first half of next year, with mass production likely in the second half, he said.
As gross margin for robotic motion controllers is typically higher than those for industrial computers, the company expects significant earnings growth after mass production begins, he said.
NexCOBOT is also working with Nvidia Corp to integrate its first-generation artificial intelligence (AI) model into its robotics module, combining AI decisionmaking, motion control and functional safety, Lin said.
The subsidiary is developing a second-generation system with the US chipmaker, with the new module to be unveiled next month, he said.
Meanwhile, NexCOBOT is discussing new projects with Japanese robot module makers, Lin said.
US President Donald Trump’s announcement to cut tariffs on some Japanese goods to 15 percent from 25 percent has not caused major shifts in partner attitudes, he said.
NexCOBOT receives robot module orders from customers in Taiwan, the US, Europe, China, India and Japan, he added.
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