Mon, Jan 23, 2017 page16

• Wistron predicts continued growth

  FOLLOW THE LEADER: A push by the new US administration to move manufacturing to the US could see Wistron invest there if the market goes that way, Simon Lin said

  • By Lauly Li / Staff reporter
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  Wistron Corp (緯創), one of Apple Inc’s iPhone assemblers, expects business growth to continue this year, after posting a record revenue for last year, company chairman Simon Lin (林憲銘) said.

  “This year’s business will be driven by demand for smartphones, Internet of Things [IoT] devices, servers and desktops,” Lin told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s annual banquet for employees on Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.

  Wistron expects capacity expansion to meet client demand after the board approved a combined investment of US$208.67 million to expand production capacity at its plant in Kunshan, China, which analysts say is to support capacity expansion for 5.5-inch iPhones.

  “We expect Wistron to become the key assembler of 5.5-inch iPhones in the second half of 2017 and into 2018,” Credit Suisse Group AG’s Taiwan equity research division wrote in a client note on Monday last week.

  Wistron’s iPhone production could reach 16.5 million units this year, up from 8 million last year, Credit Suisse said.

  Under an unspecified client’s request, the board in November last year approved a capital injection of US$33.5 million to convert its after-sales service center in Bengaluru, India, into a plant.

  Bloomberg News on Friday last week reported that Apple plans to partner with Wistron to assemble iPhones at the Indian plant.

  However, Lin declined to confirm if the plant is to focus on Apple’s iPhone business, saying that Wistron has a “wide range” of clients for the Indian market.

  “The plant in India can assemble smartphones or notebooks. It depends on the clients’ requests,” Lin said.

  The Indian plant is scheduled to become operational in next quarter, Wistron said.

  Apart from smartphones, Wistron also manufactures laptops, tablets, flat TVs, LCD monitors and data-center servers for clients.

  While the PC industry is shrinking, Wistron’s notebook computer shipments, accounting for 40 percent of the firm’s total revenue, are forecast to stay flat from last year’s 19.4 million units, Lin said.

  When asked if Wistron has plans to increase its investments in the US to meet US President Donald Trump’s call to move manufacturing jobs to the US, Lin said Wistron would do what benefits its clients.

  “I don’t think the policy will happen in a short period of time, but surely we can do that if that is the industry trend,” Lin said.

  Wistron reported accumulative sales of NT$659.41 billion (US$20.91 billion) last year, up 5.8 percent from NT$623.27 billion in 2015 and marking the highest level in the company’s history.

  The “smart” devices segment, which contributed more than 20 percent of its total revenue, was the main growth driver last year, the firm said.

  Credit Suisse expects Wistron to generate sales of NT$803.3 billion this year, up 22 percent year-on-year and 8 percent higher than the market consensus forecast.

  Wistron’s net profit reached NT$1.51 billion in the first three quarters of last year, which grew mildly by 1.34 percent from NT$1.45 billion in the same period a year earlier.

  The company is scheduled to release its earnings result for last quarter next month.
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