05.10.2001
Mixed performance in the NB PC sector in April

• Quanta (2382 'Guang Da') April revenue declined 27% to NT$9.58b from a record-high NT$13b in March. However, revenue was up 84% YoY in the month. Notebook (NB) PC shipment in April was 360k units, down from 410k units the previous month. Accumulated revenue from January to May jumped 52% YoY to NT$36.2b.

• VB Primasia Investment Opinion: We expect NB PC shipment to pick up from May on the back of shipment of new models to Compaq and Dell, and should climb to 1.1m in 2Q01 compared to 0.88m in 1Q01 and 650k in 1Q00. We maintain our ACCUMULATE rating on Quanta on good prospects for NB PC shipment.

• Inventec (2356 'Ying Ye Da'). April revenue fell 40% MoM and 37% YoY. Accumulated sales in the first four months contracted 12% YoY. Inventec indicates it will start to ship a new model to Compal from May.

• Arima (2381 'Hua Yu'). The company booked revenue of NT$2.4b last month, a 32% MoM and 43% YoY slide. Year-to-April revenue decreased 44% to NT$9.7b compared to the same period in 2000. NB PC shipment in April came in below 80k, from 128k in March. We expect shipment to rebound to over 100k from May on the back of contribution from NEC's new model orders.

• Compal (2324 'Ren Bao'). The company was the only first-tier NB PC maker to report a MoM increase in April revenue, which rose 7.5% to NT$5.97b. We would also ACCUMULATE these shares.

MarthaChen@Primasia.com +886-[0]2-2547-8878