First-tier motherboard makers suffer on-year revenue drop in November except MSI
Monica Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Thursday 11 December 2008]
Of Taiwan's first-tier motherboard makers, only Micro-Star International (MSI) saw on-year revenues growth in November this year, while all others saw a decline.
MSI recorded November non-consolidated revenues of NT$10.3 billion (US$308.2 million), a drop of 3% month, but an increase of 19.1% on year.
Although market watchers expect MSI's revenues performance in December to fall 15-20% on month, the company's annual revenues are still forecast to break NT$100 billion.
Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) announced consolidated revenues for November of NT$6.35 billion, drops of 17.78% on month and 29.38% on year. The company said it shipped 1.33 million motherboards in November.
Market watchers expect ECS' motherboard shipments in December to hit 1-1.15 million units and total shipments for 2008 will reach 21 million units, half own-brand and half under its OEM business. This figure is far from its original goal of 30 million units.
ECS is also conservative with its revenues performance in December and first-quarter 2009. The company said it expects to ship four million notebooks in 2008, growing compared to 2.5 million units shipped in 2007.
Gigabyte Technology's consolidated revenues in November were NT$2.92 billion, drops of 18.5% on month and 33.9% on year.
The company shipped 1.2-1.3 million motherboards in November, a drop of 15-20% on month, and around 200,000 graphics cards.
Asustek Computer booked consolidated revenues of NT$24.8 billion, drops of 7% on month and 10% on year.
Asustek shipped 1.45 million motherboards in November.
For 2009, Asustek expects its traditional notebook shipments to reach 6.5 million units, while Eee PCs will be around 7.2 million units. Motherboard and graphics card shipments will be 2.2 million and six million units, respectively, Asustek forecast.
