2011/12/19 21:13:11

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) Low-priced products will drive Taiwan’s smartphone market in 2012 because of fierce competition and local companies’ ability to adapt to market conditions, International Data Corp. (IDC) predicted Monday.

“The smartphone market is entering a mature stage and price competition will be even severe,” Helen Chiang, senior research manager at IDC, said at a conference in Taipei held to discuss the 10 major trends for Taiwan’s IT industry next year.

“Low-price smartphones will speed up replacements from feature phones to smartphones,” she continued. “Smartphones under US$150 (NT$4,557) will grow in terms of unit sales and market share in 2012.”

Smartphone penetration in Taiwan has grown from a 12 percent share of the total mobile phone market in 2009, to 25 percent in 2010 and 51 percent this year, a level similar to that seen in the United States and some Western European countries, according to the research firm.

The rate is expected to hit 60 percent in Taiwan next year.

At the same time, shipments of under-US$150 smartphones will increase from 20,000 units in 2011 to 500,000 units next year, taking a 10 percent share of the country’s smartphone market in 2012 compared with only 0.5 percent this year, IDC said.

A total of 4.2 million smartphones are expected to be shipped in Taiwan this year and the number will exceed 5 million next year, the research firm predicted.

Chiang also expected that Taiwan’s telecom operators will launch more low-priced smartphones using rising Chinese handset brands, such as ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technologies Co., which have advantages of time to market and cost reduction.

Separately, IDC predicted that Taiwan’s IT market will grow 7.8 percent year-on-year in 2012, lower than the 8.5 percent forecast for this year.

Chiang said the forecast reflected weaker global demand for exports from Taiwan due to the impact of European debt crisis.

Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 14 will also create an “open window” from January to May before the new president takes office, in which the public sector is expected to limit its investment and slow the growth of the entire IT market.

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2011/12/09 17:59:23

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) Acer Inc. of Taiwan and Lenovo Group Ltd of China are expected to grow in the PC market despite weak consumer demand and a disruption of the hard drive supply chain, Barclays Capital said recently.

PC demand will likely stay soft and below normal seasonality due to the lack of catalysts, Barclays said in a research note dated Dec. 7.

It said a recovery is possible in the third quarter of 2012 at the earliest after the launch of Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors in the second quarter of 2012 and Windows 8 in the third quarter of next year.

Acer and Lenovo are also forecast to see a quarter-on-quarter sales decline in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, according to Barclays. The sales drop will be due primarily to the weak economy and government spending cuts and partly to hard drive supplies, which became tighter in December after inventory was depleted in October and November, Barclays said.

However, Barclays kept an “overweight” rating on Acer and Lenovo, saying that Acer will grow from internal restructuring and Lenovo will gain market share in China’s tier-four to -six cities and emerging markets.

“As both companies also expect to see margin expansion in the next two to four years with strong operating leverage, they remain our best defensive stock recommendations in the current volatile market,” the UK-based investment bank said.

Acer said its channel inventory level continues to improve, from 14 weeks in the fourth quarter of 2010 to around six weeks near the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, and it is on track to break even operationally in the current quarter.

Barclays forecast that Acer’s operating margin will be around 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of this year and will return to 2.6 percent for the whole of 2012.

With more new products to be announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, Barclays said, Acer will put up a strong showing in the Ultrabook market as it aims to boost Ultrabooks to 25 percent to 35 percent of its total notebook shipments.

Meanwhile, Lenovo’s management remains confident of the future, as its new “4-year plan” has set an operation margin goal of 4 percent in 2016 from 2 percent in 2012, Barclays said.

“Lenovo should be able to maintain its No. 2 global PC market share in the fourth quarter, so it might decide to focus on op margins instead, which should easily reach our forecast of 2.25 percent,” the bank said.

Barclays said it expects the China PC market to maintain growth in the mid-teens, as Lenovo continues to gain market share with an aggressive strategy. At the same time, Lenovo is building its consumer business in mature markets thorough strategies such as its joint venture with Japan’s NEC Corp. and its acquisition of German consumer electronic maker Medion, Barclays noted.

http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aECO&ID=201112090024

2011/12/15 17:22:52

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) Taiwan’s major telecom giants and Apple Inc.’s participating stores will start selling iPhone 4S, Apple’s latest handset model, Friday at more than 1,000 venues nationwide.

It will mark the first time that Apple’s premium outlets will synchronize sales with Taiwan’s three largest telecom operators– Chunghwa Telecom Co., Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. and Taiwan Mobile Co.

iPhone 4S will go on sale at more than 1,000 telecom outlets and at 16 Apple stores, according to market analysts and Foxlink Group, the parent company of Studio A Inc., a premium reseller of Apple products in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The mobile carriers will bundle handset sales with telecom services, while Apple stores will sell standalone handsets.

Market estimates have put the standalone price of iPhone 4S at around NT$20,000 (US$658.8).

Foxlink Group, whose retail business has benefited from strong sales of iPhone 4S in Hong Kong, said its sales revenue for November had jumped more than 40 percent from a month earlier to NT$1.4 billion.

The group estimated that the entry of iPhone 4S in the Taiwan market will push its revenue to a new high.

The three telecom giants will hold promotional sales events for iPhone 4S in Xinyi District in Taipei on Friday.

Chungwha Chairman Lu Shyue-ching, Taiwan Mobile Senior Manager Cliff Lai, and Far EasTone President Yvonne Li are scheduled to attend the events.

http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aECO&ID=201112150025