Asustek was in a positive mood when we met with the company at IFA, but the August sales report does not make such happy reading as the company was down 11% to NT$33.69 billion ($1.08 billion) in August, and that meant that the firm is down 8.3% for the first eight months. One factor has been the drop in demand for GPU boards for crypto-currency mining. The company also pointed to fierce competition in the European notebook market as a factor. The company has acknowledged that 2018 will not be a good year, but plans to get back on track in 2019. It is said to be considering laying off some workers.
Analyst Comment
In contrast, Acer saw a better result in August, with sales of NT$22.36 billion ($719.1 million) in August, up 11.4% on month and 11.47% on last year. Acer highlighted strong sales growth in the gaming sector – and some of that could be at the expense of Asus. (BR)
