Asustek Earnings Flat, Expects 28% Shipment Growth in 3Q

   By Eva Dou 
 

TAIPEI--Taiwanese personal computer maker Asustek Computer Inc. (2357.TW) said Friday it plans to ship 28% more notebook PCs and tablets in the third quarter, after posting largely steady earnings for the second quarter as cost-cutting helped offset the impact from lower sales.

As the global PC industry is in sharp decline as consumers increasingly shift their purchases toward mobile gadgets like smartphones and tablets, Asustek posted net profit for the three months ended June 30 of 4.77 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$159 million), down 1% from NT$4.82 billion a year earlier. The result slightly fell short of the average NT$5.1 billion forecast of 19 analysts polled earlier by Thomson ONE Analytics.

Hit by rising tablet inventories and the continued slump in global laptop demand, revenue in the second quarter fell 5% to NT$89.66 billion from NT$94.20 billion a year earlier.

Asustek, the world's fifth-largest PC maker by shipments, shipped 4.1 million units of notebook PCs in the second quarter, down from 4.7 million units in the first quarter, the company said. Tablet shipments also fell to 2.0 million units from 3.0 million units.

The company said it expects to ship 4.3 million notebook PCs and 3.5 million tablets in the third quarter.

Asustek had outperformed many rivals for much of the past year thanks to a partnership with Google Inc. on the popular Nexus 7 tablet. But with a new version of the Nexus 7 just unveiled, Asustek has been saddled with inventory of the older version, analysts say.

Asustek's global PC market share fell to 6.0% in the second quarter from 6.8% a year earlier, partly due to its exit from the mini-notebook market, according to market research firm Gartner. Worldwide PC shipments fell by 10.9% in the second quarter, Gartner said.

Write to Eva Dou at [e-mail]

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