TAIPEI: Asustek Computer Inc yesterday said sales and shipments for this quarter might grow 10 percent from last quarter on the back of recovering demand.
Fourth-quarter shipments of PC products are expected to reach 5.8 million units from 5.3 million units in the last quarter, chief financial officer Nick Wu told an investors’ conference.
Shipments of mobile products are forecast to increase to 9 million units from 7.1 million units in the last quarter, while smartphones are likely to expand to 7 million units from 5.5 million units, he said.
Its bottom line should not be affected as much this quarter by foreign-exchange fluctuations.
It took a big hit from forex volatility in emerging market currencies, including Brazil’s real, in the third quarter, posting NT$2.29 billion (US$69.7 million) in forex losses, driving down non-operating profit to NT$109 million, less than one-tenth of the second quarter.
“We expect foreign-exchange related impacts to begin diminishing in the fourth quarter and beyond” following various hedging efforts, Wu said.
Total forex losses for the year might be between NT$1.5 billion and NT$2 billion, he said.
“When we launched new products in Brazil in August, the real had fallen from 3.4 against the US dollar to 4.2 in only 10 days. As a result, we were compelled to raise retail prices there, which inevitably hampered our sales,” chief executive officer Jerry Shen said.
He said the company would soon begin focusing more on its high-end product series, as premium products are more resilient against forex fluctuations.
Asustek’s third quarter financials were better than its local peers due to tighter inventory control, but its net income of NT$4.22 billion was still down 27 percent from a year earlier. It posted revenue of NT$110.99 billion, with gross margin of 14.3 percent.
