Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星科技) reported that revenue last quarter rose 11.9 percent year-on-year to NT$57.6 billion (US$1.8 billion), a record for the period in the company’s history, buoying its full-year revenue last year to increase 16.34 percent to NT$230.2 billion, also a record.
Last quarter’s strong performance was driven by a replacement demand for notebook computers, sparked by Nvidia Corp’s new RTX 50-series graphics cards and consumer desire for high-end gaming PCs, an industry source said in an interview yesterday on condition of anonymity.
However, as rising memory component prices are expected to pressure profits, MSI is likely to respond by either raising product prices by about 10 percent starting this quarter, or lowering memory specifications from next quarter to avoid increasing pressure on end-market users, the source said.
Photo: AFP
The company is also expected to continue increasing the proportion of high-end gaming PCs and artificial intelligence (AI) PCs in its product portfolio this year in a bid to raise average selling prices and support profit margins, the source said.
The company’s PC shipments this quarter are expected to remain flat from last quarter, held down by rising memory prices and the traditional off-season, the source added.
PC vendor Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) reported that revenue last quarter rose 33 percent year-on-year to NT$202.9 billion, the second-highest for the period in the company’s history, and full-year revenue increased 26 percent to NT$738.9 billion.
The strong performance was driven by revenue growth from its server, gaming and commercial PC segments, the company said on Friday.
Acer Inc’s (宏碁) revenue last quarter rose 12.7 percent year-on-year to NT$74.37 billion, the highest level for a single quarter since the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing full-year revenue to NT$275.6 billion, up 4.1 percent, the company said.
Asustek and Acer last month said they would raise prices for certain products starting this quarter to address the surge in memory prices.
Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) last week forecast global PC shipments would fall 3.1 percent and notebook shipments would drop 2.4 percent this year, as PC vendors’ potential price hikes could dampen consumer appetite.
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