Contract computer maker Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$11.16 billion (US$368.13 million) for last year — its highest in 11 years — thanks to strong fourth-quarter results.
Last year’s profit grew 6.6 percent from NT$10.47 billion in 2021, with earnings per share rising to NT$4.01 from NT$3.76, the company said in a statement.
Revenue grew 14.2 percent to NT$984.61 billion from NT$862.08 billion a year earlier, it said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Gross margin improved to 7.08 percent from 5.93 percent, benefiting from a better product portfolio in the fourth quarter, which pushed the quarterly ratio to an all-time high of 8.59 percent, Wistron said.
However, shipments of notebook computers fell 17.19 percent annually to 21.2 million units last year, and desktop computer shipments edged down 0.22 percent to 9 million units, it said.
The company was affected by overall weakness in the PC sector last year, Wistron said, adding that global PC shipments contracted 16 percent to 285 million units last year, based on tallies by Canalys.
Wistron predicted that notebook computer shipments would be flat this year, despite the downtrend in the overall PC industry.
The company said it expects revenue for non-PC products to expand by a double-digit percentage this year and contribute to 40 percent of the company’s total revenue, unchanged from last year.
Wistron said it continues to allocate production outside of China by launching more manufacturing lines in Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, Mexico and Vietnam to cope with customer demand.
China accounts for less than 50 percent of its total manufacturing capacity, it said, adding that Vietnam would replace China as the company’s new notebook computer manufacturing hub.
Wistron’s growth last year was also supported by the robust financial performance of its server-manufacturing arm, Wiwynn Corp (緯穎), which reported a record net profit of NT$14.17 billion, surging 63.82 percent from NT$8.65 billion in 2021. Earnings per share soared to NT$81.09 from NT$49.46 a year earlier.
Separately, Inventec Corp (英業達), which makes computers and servers for global brands on a contract basis, yesterday said its board of directors has approved a plan to invest US$17 million to set up a new Vietnamese subsidiary after the company last month acquired a plot of land in Hanoi’s industrial area for US$23.12 billion.
Revenue grew 4.24 percent to a record NT$541.75 billion last year, from NT$519.73 billion in 2021.
Computers and servers constituted about 90 percent of its revenue, while smart devices made up the remaining 10 percent, Inventec said.
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
The New Taiwan dollar is on the verge of overtaking the yuan as Asia’s best carry-trade target given its lower risk of interest-rate and currency volatility. A strategy of borrowing the New Taiwan dollar to invest in higher-yielding alternatives has generated the second-highest return over the past month among Asian currencies behind the yuan, based on the Sharpe ratio that measures risk-adjusted relative returns. The New Taiwan dollar may soon replace its Chinese peer as the region’s favored carry trade tool, analysts say, citing Beijing’s efforts to support the yuan that can create wild swings in borrowing costs. In contrast,
TARIFF SURGE: The strong performance could be attributed to the growing artificial intelligence device market and mass orders ahead of potential US tariffs, analysts said The combined revenue of companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange for the whole of last year totaled NT$44.66 trillion (US$1.35 trillion), up 12.8 percent year-on-year and hit a record high, data compiled by investment consulting firm CMoney showed on Saturday. The result came after listed firms reported a 23.92 percent annual increase in combined revenue for last month at NT$4.1 trillion, the second-highest for the month of December on record, and posted a 15.63 percent rise in combined revenue for the December quarter at NT$12.25 billion, the highest quarterly figure ever, the data showed. Analysts attributed the
US President Joe Biden’s administration has proposed a new framework for exports of advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence (AI), an attempt to balance national security concerns about the technology with the economic interests of producers and other countries. However, the framework proposed yesterday also raised concerns of chip industry executives who say the rules would limit access to existing chips used for video games and restrict in 120 countries the chips used for data centers and AI products. Mexico, Portugal, Israel and Switzerland are among the nations that could have limited access to chips needed for AI
RSS