Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) has delayed its annual launch of a flagship smartphone from April to July at the latest, mainly due to a quarter-long shortage in key components, company executives said yesterday.
Persisting supply constraints on key components and volatility in foreign currency exchange rates would be the two main challenges for Asustek this year, company chief executive officer Jerry Shen (沈振來) told an investors’ conference at the company’s headquarters in Taipei.
The company in November last year told reporters that it hoped to launch its next-generation ZenFone in April this year at the earliest, in an effort to maintain sales momentum, as the ZenFone 3 series product life cycle dissipates toward the end of the first half.
However, shortages in key components have affected Asustek’s plan, Shen said, declining to elaborate on the potential effect on the company’s smartphone business.
The affected components include DRAM, flash memory and flat panels that are used in both notebooks and smartphones, Asustek said.
The component shortages would increase manufacturing costs for Asustek, as component prices rise, industry analysts said.
To cope with rising manufacturing costs, Shen said the company has increased the retail prices for some of its notebook models in selected markets and also plans to hike prices for new models.
With the supply of key components tight, Asustek is to allocate their use to high-margin notebooks such as gaming and two-in-one detachable or convertible products to ensure that the company’s margins remain stable, chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) said.
Asustek forecast that the proportion of its revenues it gains from its PC business this quarter would drop to 15 percent, from last quarter’s 20 percent, while mobile business revenue would fall by between 10 percent and 15 percent due to seasonal weakness, Wu said.
Looking forward, Shen said Asustek this year hopes to ship close to last year’s 20.61 million PCs.
Revenue from the firm’s PC business is expected to grow mildly year-on-year on the back of increasing sales contributions from higher-priced gaming and two-in-one notebooks, Shen said.
The company last year reported a combined net income of NT$19.2 billion (US$624.08 million), representing NT$25.9 per share, 12 percent higher than 2015’s NT$17.09 billion, or NT$23 per share, company data showed.
Gross margin last year contracted 0.2 percentage points year-on-year to 13.6 percent, while operating margin fell 0.5 percentage points annually to 4.1 percent, the data showed.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
SENSOR BUSINESS: The Taiwanese company said that a public tender offer would begin on May 7 through its wholly owned subsidiary Yageo Electronics Japan Yageo Corp (國巨), one of the world’s top three suppliers of passive components, yesterday said it is to launch a tender offer to fully acquire Japan’s Shibaura Electronics Co for up to ￥65.57 billion (US$429.37 million), with an aim to expand its sensor business. The tender offer would be a crucial step for the company to expand its sensor business, Yageo said. Shibaura Electronics is the world’s largest supplier of thermistors, with a market share of 13 percent, research conducted in 2022 by the Japanese firm showed. If a deal goes ahead, it would be the second acquisition of a sensor business since
RSS