WASHINGTON: Asustek Computer’s fourth-quarter-2015 revenues were NT$123.99 billion (US$3.7 billion), down 2.4% on year while operating profits were NT$5.58 billion, operating profit margin 4.5% and net profits NT$4.54 billion, flat from the same quarter a year ago.
For the full year, Asustek had revenues of NT$436.52 billion, operating profits of NT$20.05 billion, operating profit margin of 4.6%, net profits of NT$17.1 billion, weaker than the NT$19.47 billion from 2014, and EPS of NT$23.02, also down from NT$26.21 in 2014.
For 2016, Asustek will continue to see stable profits from the notebook and motherboard/graphics card businesses, but uncertainties from its smartphone and tablet businesses, as well as exchange rate fluctuations, are expected to cause Asustek to only achieve flat performance on year.
Asustek said that its revenues and operating profits in 2015 were both at the same level as in 2014, but net profits were lower because of exchange losses. Asustek suffered around NT$2.2 billion in exchange losses in the first three quarters of 2015 because of fluctuations in China, Brazil and Russia. Asustek believes 2016 is still filled with uncertainties, and therefore will take a more cautious approach to planning its operations and spending.
Asustek shipped 20.5 million smartphones worldwide in 2015, up from 8.5 million units in 2014 and is aiming to ship 30 million units in 2016 excluding shipments in China. The company shipped 6.1 million tablets in 2015, dropping sharply from 9.4 million units in 2014, and is expected to stay flat in 2016.
Asustek’s notebook shipments were 19.3 million units, weaker than 2014’s 20.3 million units, but the Taiwan-based vendor is looking to ship more than 20 million units in 2016. Asustek had 17-17.5 million motherboard shipments in 2015 and will focus on keeping the volume at the same level in 2016.
With Asustek’s smartphone business already turning profitable, some market watchers expect Asustek to become more aggressive about Internet of Things (IoT) product lines such as wearable devices and will enter the robot industry before the end of 2016 as planned. However, market watchers believe Asustek will see difficulty further increasing its profits.
With the worldwide smartphone market in fierce competition, and related demand gradually weakening, Asustek has faced serious challenges from China-based vendors in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa. Asustek’s consolidated revenues were NT$35.29 billion in January 2016, up 0.9% on year. Asustek: Consolidated revenues, Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 (NT$m).
