E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), which manufactures the displays used in 90 percent of the world’s e-readers, expects business to continue to improve this quarter on strong demand for electronic books that pushed its earnings to a new high last quarter, company chairman Scott Liu (劉思誠) said yesterday.
“We expect revenue in the fourth quarter to rise higher from the third quarter as demand for EPD [electronic paper displays] accelerates, while sales of LCD panels increase robustly,” Liu told an investor conference.
Net income totaled NT$2.25 billion (US$74.57 million) during the July-to-September period, growing 20.6 percent from the second quarter, company data showed. That lifted net profit for the first nine months of the year to NT$5.25 billion, an increase of 18.8 percent from the same period last year and translating into record earnings of NT$4.86 per share.
“The figures supported our forecast that growth momentum will build up ahead of Christmas,” Liu said. “Surveys show that more consumers wish to own an e-reader. The product is recession-proof because in bad times, people spend more time reading.”
Liu voiced optimism that shipments of e-readers could hit the company’s forecast of between 25 million units and 30 million units this year.
E Ink — whose customers include Amazon, the world’s largest online bookstore, and Sony Corp — is also confident of revenue expansion as a result of Amazon’s low-price marketing strategy for its tablet, Kindle Fire.
The Kindle Fire, which has a seven-inch screen, uses E Ink’s fringe field switching (FFS) technology.
E Ink’s gross margin widened to 35.4 percent in the third quarter, from 32.5 percent in the second quarter, thanks to stronger sales of EPD, as well as cost-control measures, Liu said.
EPD, which generates higher profit, made up between 70 percent and 75 percent of the company’s overall sales, he said.
However, the expected increase in sales of LCD panels could squeeze margins this quarter, Liu said.
Shipments of LCD panels were modest last month, but are seeing a sharp pickup this month, Liu said, confident that shipments would remain high through the Christmas season because of Amazon’s competitive pricing strategy.
Amazon’s strategy has had a limited impact on E Ink’s bottom line because the two sides put their cooperation terms in black and white early this year, Liu said.
To meet growing demand, E Ink had signed a contract with Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) to help supply LCD panels, Liu said.
Liu shied away from speculating on the business outlook next year, saying it was too early to tell.
“I would save comment until after Christmas,” he said. “The strength of sell-through will shed light on the year ahead.”
E Ink shares closed up 2.5 percent at NT$69.70 yesterday, lagging behind the TAIEX’s 2.97 percent gain, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
From George Clooney to LeBron James, celebrities in the US have cashed in on tequila’s soaring popularity, but in Mexico, producers of the agave plant used to make the country’s most famous liquor are nursing a nasty hangover. Instead of bringing a long period of prosperity for farmers of the spiky succulent, the tequila boom has created a supply glut that sent agave prices slumping. Mexican tequila exports surged from 224 million liters in 2018 to a record 402 million last year, according to the Tequila Regulatory Council, which oversees qualification for the internationally recognized denomination of origin label. The US, Germany, Spain,
RSS