Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), one of the world’s leading contract notebook computer makers, yesterday reported strong profit for the first quarter, but added that a severe shortage of key components could affect its business.
“Our growth could be limited by a shortage of components,” Quanta spokesman Elton Yang (楊俊烈) told an online investors’ conference.
“The situation is severe, and it is hard to calculate how short we are,” Yang added.
Photo: Vanessa Cho, Taipei Times
Revenue growth this quarter would be limited to single-digit percentage sequential growth due to the shortage, but the company would fight to keep up with surging demand, he said.
With good order visibility extending into the third quarter, the outlook for the second half of the year is better than for the first half, he said.
“There would be no problem with demand for laptops in 2021,” Yang said.
Laptop demand remains robust even as the COVID-19 pandemic eases with nations introducing vaccination programs, but shortages of key components, including display panels and graphics cards, have had a knock-on effect, causing a laptop shortage.
Last year, Quanta shipped a record 59.8 million laptops, up 70 percent from a year earlier.
Shipments in the first quarter of this year totaled 19 million units, down 700,000 units from a year earlier, company data showed.
Quanta posted a net profit of NT$7.1 billion (US$253.6 million) in the first quarter, down 17.72 percent quarter-on-quarter, but up 175.18 percent year-on-year.
Earnings per share were NT$1.84, a new record for the first quarter.
Revenue in the first quarter was NT$268.95 billion, down 11.25 percent quarter-on-quarter, but up 41.33 percent year-on-year.
Gross margin was 6.33 percent, up 0.13 percentage points from a quarter earlier and 1.48 percentage points from the same period last year, the company said.
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