Chicony Reportedly Garners Order from New Customer for Wearable Devices
2014/03/18 | By Steve ChuangChicony Electronics Co., Ltd., a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer listed on the Taiwanese bourse, has reportedly garnered an order from a new customer for wearable devices, which is scheduled to be filled in the second quarter of this year, which will further boost its presence in the potentially lucrative segment, according to industry sources.
The sources said that after securing the new order, Chicony, which has supplied wearable action cameras to a U.S. customer, Gopro, for some time, is expected to see the contribution of its wearable electronic devices to overall revenue surge from 13% presently to 15-20% at the end of this year, hence further boosting profits given that such products generate higher margins than typical electronic devices.
The company witnessed rosy performance in the fourth quarter of last year, when its revenue and operating profits both hit record highs of NT$21 billion and NT$13.3 billion, with net profits and earnings per share of NT$1 billion and NT$1.56, mostly thanks to an optimized product mix. The firm's gross profit then also reached a five-quarter high of 16.2%.
For 2013, this maker reported revenue of NT$74.544 billion, with net profits of NT$3.782 billion, or NT$5.83 per share, and has decided to distribute dividends of NT$4.6 in cash and NT$0.05 in stock this year, both all-time highs.
The company explained that its banner growth seen last year was largely driven by shipment of non-PC products, making up 45% of the total and being mostly wearable action cameras, game consoles and cloud servers. Sales of such products, it added, soared 50% annually in the year.
Growth momentum is expected to continue in the first half of this year, given that shipment of wearable action cameras to GoPro will surge on seasonal booms starting in May, not to mention the reported new order for wearable electronic devices.
Fueled by a couple of positive factors, including new customers and simmering market demand for PC replacements, the company is optimistic about attaining a revenue growth of over 20% in the second quarter, and will see the contribution rate of non-PC products stand at 50% this year. (SC)
| Chicony's Performance by Quarter | ||||||
| Period
| 2013
| 2014
| ||||
| Q1
| Q2
| Q3
| Q4
| Q1
| Q2
| |
| Revenue
| NT$17.821 Bn.
| NT$19.999 Bn.
| NT$17.209 Bn.
| NT$17.968 Bn.
| NT$18.332 Bn.
| NT$21.035 Bn.
|
| Net Profits
| NT$1.117 Bn.
| NT$1.258 Bn.
| NT$954 M.
| NT$886 M.
| NT$933 M.
| NT$1.009 Bn.
|
| Earnings per Share
| NT$1.76
| NT$1.98
| NT$1.49
| NT$1.37
| NT$1.43
| NT$1.56
|