Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s fifth-largest PC brand, yesterday reported net profits that grew 15 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$5.69 billion (US$187.81 million) in the final quarter of last year, driven by strong sales of Transformer Book T100 detachable notebooks.
However, those net profits reflect a 3 percent year-on-year decline.
For the whole of last year, Asustek’s net profit dropped 4 percent to NT$21.45 billion, from a record-high of NT$22.42 billion in 2012.
The full-year net profit result beat Yuanta Securities’ (元大證券) estimate of NT$21.38 billion and Fubon Securities Co’s (富邦證券) forecast of NT$20.77 billion.
“Based on reports from our sales channels, market demand for Transformer Book T100s remains strong in almost every regional market. We expect the growth momentum to continue this year, helping us secure our No. 3 ranking in the global tablet market,” Asustek chief executive officer Jerry Shen (沈振來) told an investors’ conference yesterday.
The company is preparing to launch a new detachable notebook product, called the Transformer Book T200, next quarter, Shen said.
It aims to sell 2 million to 4 million units of its Transformer Book products this year, boosting total notebook shipments to between 20 million and 24 million units, from 18.8 million units last year, he added.
“To counteract weakening demand for traditional PCs, Asustek this year will focus on its smartphone business and plans to initiate marketing campaigns to strengthen its foothold in this highly competitive market,” Shen said.
Asustek plans to start selling its new mid-end smartphone products, dubbed ZenFones, in emerging markets like China from April, chief financial officer David Chang (張偉明) told investors.
In June, Asustek will launch a smartphone model called the ZenFone X, with AT&T Inc, the US’ largest telecom operator, “which is expected to help drive Asustek’s smartphone shipments this year,” Chang said.
Fubon analyst Arthur Liao (廖顯毅) said Asustek’s smartphone business is likely to break even this year, after losing up to NT$1 billion last year, if the company achieves its shipment target of 5 million units.
With Samsung Electronics Co and Sony Corp giving up their desktop and laptop businesses, Asustek is expected to expand its share of the PC market this year, becoming the world’s third-largest PC brand behind Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Hewlett-Packard Co (HP), Liao said.
By the end of next quarter, Asustek will launch two Chromebook models, codenamed C200 and C300, in the US, Shen said.
Sales of Chromebooks will account for less than 10 percent of Asustek’s total sales this year, as the new product will largely attract school consumers rather than the mass market, he said.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary
RSS