Inventec expects to grab higher European handset market share

Taipei, Dec. 11, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwanese handset supplier Inventec Appli@nce Corp. expects to land more orders from European telecom service providers next year after winning orders from British provider T-mobile last year.

Last year, T-mobile contracted the Taiwanese manufacturer to supply color-screen handsets. Sources close to Inventec pointed out that the company has been in talks with some European telecom service suppliers and expect to secure new orders next year.

The mobile phones Inventec built for the British telecom service provider are the OKWAP i108 models widely known in Taiwan. The British company offers services in Czech, Germany, and the United States in addition to its home turf. Before contracting Inventec, the company had signed up Taiwanese contract suppliers Quanta Computer and HTC Corp. to supply handsets. Inventec planned to sell 600,000 OKWAP phones this year and 1.2 million phones next year in Taiwan.

Capitalized at NT$2.3 billion (US$69 million at US$1:NT$34), Inventec Appli@nce is an affiliate of the Inventec Group. The handset supplier accomplished annual revenue goal of NT$20 billion (US$588 million) ahead of schedule in the third quarter and expects final result to reach NT$30 billion (US$882 million) by the end of this year. In the first half of the year, the company reported pretax earnings of NT$2.7 per share on revenue of NT$18 billion (US$529 million). It scored pretax profit of NT$600 million (US$17.6 million) on revenue of NT$14 billion (US$411 million) last year.

Handset is expected to account for 20% of the company's revenue this year, rising from last year's 12% to 13%. MP3 players, PDAs (personal digital assistants) and other handheld gadgets constitute the remaining portion of the company's revenue.

Inventec Group has planned to lower its ownership in the handset affiliate to 50% by the end of this year and list it on the domestic stock market.

In addition to the British market, Inventec has introduced its OKWAP handsets into mainland China through the mainland's brand-name supplier Shenzhen SED HuiTong Electronics Co., Ltd.