Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) hopes the launch of its next-generation smartphone — the ZenFone 3 — in June will help boost growth momentum in the second half of this year, a company official said on Friday.
“We expect to introduce the new flagship smartphone at the end of June and start mass production in July,” Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) said in a telephone interview.
Together with the launches of other handsets in the second half of the year, the company aims to sell 25 million smartphones this year, an increase of 25 percent from last year’s 20 million units.
The company in February cut its annual shipment target for smartphones from 30 million units to 25 million units.
The smartphone business for the first half of the year is likely to remain flattish or increase slightly from the 8 million units sold over the same period last year, as the product cycle of the ZenFone 2 series gradually dissipates, the company said.
Analysts said the company would need to ship 17 million units between July and December to reach its annual target.
However, as the Zenfone series becomes more complete, it will serve as a stronger growth driver for Asustek, they said.
The company’s goal of a 25 percent annual increase in smartphone shipments is higher than the global average of 7 percent forecast by international research house Gartner Inc on March 31.
It also underlines chief executive officer Jerry Shen’s (沈振來) efforts to improve the firm’s smartphone marketing strategies.
Shen in February said that Asustek aims to focus on fast-growing emerging markets this year such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and India.
The firm also plans to introduce a limited number of higher-margin smartphones in the regions in a bid to have a deeper and closer relationship with consumers there, he said.
Shen said the company hopes to see its market share in Indonesia increase to 18 percent this year from 15 percent last year and from 2 percent to 5 percent in India.
Compared with the company’s aggressiveness in the smartphone business, Asustek is conservative about the outlook of its tablet segment, after seeing an annual decline of 37.23 percent in shipments last year amid softening demand.
In the first quarter of this year, the company only shipped 1 million tablets, down 33.33 percent from 1.5 million units a year ago, Wu said.
Wu said the company also plans to introduce new tablets in June and will continue improving its operation efficiency in the tablet segment in a bid to increase tablet shipments in the second half.
However, the persistent weak demand for tablets worldwide will weigh on Asustek’s tablet shipments this year, which are likely to remain flat from last year’s 5.9 million units, Wu said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS