Asustek announces reorganization
Taiwan-based motherboard maker Austek recently announced plans to reorganize into 15 business units with the reorganization to be effective this March according to the company as cited in the Economic Daily News. After reorganizing, each business unit will have its own R&D, marketing and sales teams. Asustek said it is determined to honor its promise to separate its own-brand and contract manufacturing businesses. The main focus of the reorganization is to give the product departments more autonomy and flexibility in their own development. The latest restructuring marks a further step towards that separation. For example, Asustek’s own-brand notebook business is now operated as a separate product department from the OEM notebook business, which also has its own department. Its OBM and OEM motherboards now also belong to two different departments.
SiS gets into DRAM modules
Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) announced that it has established a division to produce DRAM modules for existing PC-brand customers. The chipset maker has purchased several module testers and expects to start shipping modules soon after receiving validation from its clients. The division will start sales in the second half of this year. The main products will cover DDR2-800, DDR-667, DDR2-533, and DDR-400 modules for desktops and notebooks and SiS will seek help from affiliated companies of parent company United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) for workforce and production capability.
TV revenues rise 13% in 4Q 2005 on flat panel/HDTV growth
Global TV revenues grew 36% on-quarter and 13% on-year to US$26.3 billion during Q4 of 2005, according to DisplaySearch. Flat panel TV penetration jumped from 8 to 19% in the fourth quarter of 2005 on a unit basis and from 36% to 58% on a revenue basis, causing the blended TV ASP to rise 18% on-year to US$451, noted the research firm.
Regionally, Europe enjoyed the highest revenue growth, up 40% sequentially, followed by North America (up 15%). HDTV shipments, as a percentage of total TV shipments, more than doubled worldwide from 7% to 17% in Q4, it was highest in Japan at 52% with North America at 35% and Europe at 28%.
By technology, LCD TVs overtook CRT TVs for the first time on a revenue basis during the Q4 last year, holding a 38% to 31% advantage on 58% on year growth.
On a unit basis, LGE reclaimed the top position from Samsung with a 9.6% share, up 48% on quarter while Samsung fell from the top to the second, noted DisplayResearch.
Acer: No plans to acquire Gateway
Acer chairman JT Wang dismissed rumors that the company was planning to acquire Gateway in order to strengthen its competitive edge against Dell and HP in the US market. According to the rumors, Acer is in talks with Gateway (the third largest PC vendor in the US). Wang revealed that some investors had suggested Acer do so, but he maintained that buying Gateway would not be a necessary step for Acer to establish itself in the US market. Wang said Acer should continue seeing strong growth in the US market on its own, without having to acquire a rival. Admitting that Acer will see pressure in 2006, Wang however expressed confidence that the company will be able to beat its financial forecasts.
Sources with Taiwan’s notebook makers commented that the rumors about Acer acquiring Gateway stemmed from Dell’s and HP’s recent active developments in the European markets, where Acer is the number one notebook vendor. Dell and HP are hoping that the pressure they are giving Acer in Europe will slow down Acer’s development in the US. Wang said because Acer’s notebooks are already number one in Europe, the company expects its growth there to slow down. But Acer’s overall sales in Europe could still grow 30% to US$6.5 billion. Even if Acer grew only 20% in Europe because of strong competition, its revenues would still grow to US$6 billion in 2006, Wang said. But Acer could make that up from the US and China markets, he added.
Lenovo aims to double notebook business with dual-brand strategy, says ‘father of the IBM ThinkPad’
The dual-brand strategy adopted by China-based Lenovo will help the company double its business in the global notebook market since Lenovo- and ThinkPad branded notebooks will complement each other in meeting the needs of different segments, said Arimasa Naitoh, vice president notebook development of Lenovo. Naitoh, a 31-year veteran at IBM, was touted as ‘Father of the ThinkPad’ by the local media since he has been overseeing the design and development of ThinkPad notebooks since 1991.
The core design of the ThinkPad will not be changed, despite the fact that he now works under a different company, Naitoh said. Since Lenovo is now a global brand name, the company cannot count simply on high-end models for the business sector, Naitoh said, and as a result, the company has to develop Lenovo-branded notebooks targeting the consumer segment, a segment which has been a weak area for the ThinkPad line.
Naitoh denied rumors circulating on websites saying the ThinkPad has met with problems related to quality control and after sales service since it became a Chinese brand name. The ThinkPad production roadmap hasn’t been changed, and the company’s cooperation with Taiwan-based ODM partners has been further enhanced due to the expansion of Lenovo-brand lineups, Naitoh stated.
Foxconn blaims Nintendo for drop
Foxconn said that a decline in Nintendo game-console shipments and fewer working days were the major causes for the company’s revenue drop in February. Foxconn posted NT$2.56 billion (US$78.67 million) in consolidated revenues for February, down 16.12% sequentially. The company was cited as saying that Nintendo shipments declined because distributors were clearing their inventories of old models, in anticipation of new ones. Foxconn expects Nintendo game-console shipments to double in March.