Industrial computer maker Ennoconn Corp (樺漢科技) yesterday said revenue in the second half of this year is expected to exceed first-half levels driven by rising demand for smart factory and facility management solutions from semiconductor makers investing in high-tech and automation systems.
Ennoconn’s revenue in the first half grew 23.62 percent from a year earlier to NT$85.49 billion (US$2.67 billion).
Capacity expansion by semiconductor customers would remain a key growth driver for Ennoconn’s smart factory and facility management business in the second half, Ennoconn chairman Steve Chu (朱復銓) told an earnings conference in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of Ennoconn Corp
The company since last quarter has benefited significantly from the second-phase expansion of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) US fabs through its 37.88 percent-held subsidiary Marketech International Corp (帆宣), Chu said.
Growth is also expected to be supported by Ennoconn’s project with Atlanta, Georgia-based retail solutions provider NCR Voyix Corp, he said.
The Atlanta project is expected to generate NT$14 billion to NT$16 billion for the full year, with significant revenue contribution starting last quarter, he said.
Based on a strategic partnership agreement signed by the companies in August 2024, Ennoconn took over NCR Voyix’s design and manufacturing, as well as supply of NCR Voyix’s self-checkout, point-of-sale hardware and other financial end devices, he said.
The hardware products entered volume production in April, Chu said.
Products for NCR Voyix have evolved from traditional boards and box PCs into autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) systems integrating sensors, cameras, AI computing and software, lifting gross margin to more than 35 percent, Ennoconn president Nelson Tsay (蔡能吉) said.
Collaboration with NCR Voyix is expected to lift Ennoconn’s overall margin, Tsay said.
Meanwhile, Ennoconn expects to complete its tender offer for German embedded computing subsidiary Kontron AG on Thursday next week, raising its stake to about 49.4 percent.
Kontron has high-margin businesses in Europe, including rail transportation, aerospace and software, with combined revenue exceeding NT$10 billion, Chu said.
Ennoconn plans to leverage its supply chain and market presence in Asia to expand Kontron’s products across the Asia-Pacific region, while the two companies would jointly develop the North American market, the company said.
Ennoconn also plans to introduce its centralized procurement, enterprise resource planning and manufacturing management systems to Kontron, it said.
The deeper integration could generate at least 40 million euros (US$46.27 million) in additional revenue, it said.
The firm holds orders totaling NT$255 billion, up from NT$215 billion last quarter, indicating robust shipment momentum this year, it said.
Ennoconn’s business consists of three main segments: industrial Internet of Things (IoT), which accounted for 46 percent of total revenue in the first half; intelligent software and solutions (12 percent); and smart factory and facility management (42 percent), it said.
Among the three segments, growth from IoT, and smart factory and facility management is expected to be the greatest in the second half, Chu said.
Ennoconn on Thursday reported that first-half net profit rose 21.6 percent year-on-year to NT$1.8 billion. Earnings per share rose to NT$12.31 from NT$10.13 a year earlier.
Gross margin fell to 19.66 percent from 19.86 percent a year earlier as higher component costs weighed on profitability, but is expected to improve as memory-related price rises are passed on to customers starting this quarter, Chu said.
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