December 10, 1999
Acer, Other Taiwan Tech Firms
Post Strong Sales for November
By BAKER LI
Dow Jones Newswires
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Record sales by many of Taiwan's biggest computer and
semiconductor manufacturers reflect a long-term trend that will be only
marginally slowed by a stronger Taiwanese currency, analysts said Friday.
Despite the strong New Taiwan dollar, analysts
remain upbeat about the prospects for the
island's technology sector against the backdrop
of a booming world-wide computer industry.
"The recent strength in the New Taiwan dollar may affect their sales in
coming months, but, long-term, the industry looks OK," said Eddy Chen, a
fund manager with Core Pacific Securities Investment Trust Co.
Personal-computer maker Acer Inc. Friday reported record November sales
of NT$13.82 billion (US$438 million), up 25% from NT$11.03 billion in the
year-earlier month. Total sales for the first 11 months of 1999 grew 35% to
NT$116.4 billion from NT$86.5 billion in the year-ago period.
Quanta Computer Inc., Taiwan's largest notebook-computer maker, said
Friday that its November sales rose to NT$6.96 billion, up 49% from
NT$4.68 billion in November 1998. The company's sales for the
January-November period jumped 51% to NT$69.3 billion from NT$45.8
billion in a year earlier.
Overseas sales by export-oriented technology companies decline when
repatriated and converted into the stronger New Taiwan dollar.
Amid continued inflows of foreign equity funds, the New Taiwan dollar has
risen 1.9% this year and is trading at two-year highs. The local dollar ended
at NT$31.618 to the U.S. dollar Friday, and economists said it may test
NT$31.500 by the end of the year, and NT$30.50 by the end of 2000. At the
start of 1998, the local currency was at NT$32.638 to the U.S. dollar.
Taiwan is the world's third-largest producer of computer equipment and
among the top five makers of semiconductors. Overseas computer
companies, aiming to reduce costs, have increasingly turned to Taiwanese
suppliers, which focus largely on contract manufacturing.
Chip maker United Microelectronics Corp. Friday posted a record NT$2.96
billion in sales for November, a 66% jump from the same month a year ago.
The company's 11-month sales amounted to NT$26.53 billion, up 59% from
the first 11 months in 1998.
And UMC wasn't alone. Sales for Winbond Electronics Corp. rose to
NT$4.19 billion in November, up 189% from NT$1.45 billion in the same
month a year ago. Sales for January-November climbed to NT$26.98 billion,
up 97% from the same period a year ago.
Mosel Vitelic Inc. said its November sales climbed 65% from the same
month a year ago to NT$2.57 billion, while sales for the first 11 months of
the year increased 63% from the same period a year ago to NT$16.90
billion.
"The results were in line with expectations," said Alfred Ying, a
semiconductor analyst at Primasia Securities in Taipei. "Foundry companies
were expected to book record high sales in November, and most DRAM
companies were selling on contract, so November sales were on the rise."
With an expected shortage of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM,
chips during the second half of 2000, many electronics companies have
already signed long-term supply contracts with Taiwan-based chip makers,
Mr. Ying said.
In addition, "big overseas computer makers are placing more orders for
PC-related products with Taiwan," said Michael Wang, a fund manager at
the Ta Chong Investment Trust Corp.
For instance, Houston-based Compaq Computer Corp., the world's largest
PC maker, said it would purchase US$8.5 billion worth of
information-technology products from Taiwan in 2000, up 20% from US$7.1
billion estimated for this year. Next year, Taiwan will become the largest
supply source for Compaq, accounting for 25% of Compaq's total
world-wide purchases, compared to 20% from the U.S., and 10% from
Japan.
Write to Baker Li at baker.li@dowjones.com |
