Cable and connector maker Wonderful Hi-Tech Co (萬泰科技) yesterday said it expects revenue this year to exceed its NT$10 billion (US$316.1 million) target, driven by demand for high-speed cables for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite products and other high-margin products.
The optimism comes as the company reported revenue in the first half of the year grew 21.4 percent year-on-year to NT$5.47 billion, and it has seen progress in customers’ certification of its high-speed, power and leak-detection cables for AI servers, Wonderful Hi-Tech said.
The company has monthly production capacity of about 10 million meters of bare high-speed cables used in AI servers, with PCIe 6.0 cables as its core products, Wonderful Hi-Tech chief executive officer Steve Chang (張程雅) said during an earnings conference in Taipei.
Photo: Meryl Kao, Taipei Times
AI rack upgrades continue to drive faster data transmission and higher copper cable spending per rack, suggesting optical and copper connectivity would grow in parallel rather than one replacing the other, a trend expected to support the company’s growth, Chang said.
Customers in Southeast Asia and India have been inquiring about high-current power cables for 800 volt DC architectures and small-diameter flexible rubber cables used inside bus bars, he said.
For liquid cooled applications, the company has developed leak-detection cables that can be wrapped around coolant pipes to detect minor leaks and trigger immediate alerts to prevent damage to server motherboards and printed circuit boards, Chang said.
Mass shipments of all AI server-related cable products are expected to begin by year-end, he said.
The company is expanding its high-end copper cable applications into physical AI, particularly robots and drones, which require high-speed vision, network, actuator and control cables, he added.
The company also supplies AC power cords, router cables and other network cables used in ground equipment for LEO satellites, Chang said.
Satellite cables are expected to double their revenue contribution from last year and account for about 7 percent of total revenue this year, he said.
Wonderful Hi-Tech has budgeted about NT$400 million for capital expenditure this year, with NT$250 million earmarked for the third-phase expansion of high-speed cable production in Thailand. Operations should begin in April next year, Chang said.
The company reported net profit in the first half of the year rose 37.1 percent year-on-year to NT$249 million. Earnings per share increased to NT$1.35 from NT$1.10 a year earlier.
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