IPC firms reverse industrial trend to post sales growth

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on May 26, 2006. It reports that Taiwan's leading manufacturers of industrial personal computers (IPCs) recently projected a 10 percent sequential growth in sales in the second quarter of 2006. These manufacturers include Posiflex Inc., Firich Enterprises Co., DFI-ACP Corp., Flytech Group International Inc., and Portwell Inc.

Together, these leading manufacturers of industrial personal computers registered record high earnings in 2005. They expect to see substantial growth in sales in the second quarter of 2006, thanks to a recent influx of orders.

For example, Posiflex enjoys a steady growth in orders from U.S. and European distributors. The company also plans to aggressively explore the Japanese market, and is expected to secure orders from Japan's largest distributors of POS (point of sales) machines.

Meanwhile, Fiich has won a bid from Chinatrust Commercial Bank, which was recently given approval to begin lottery operation in 2007, for the supply of the lottery machines. The company will ship all the machines by the end of 2006 so that they can begin their service in January 2007. It is expected that these machines will make a significant contribution to the company's overall sales in the second half of 2006.

DFI-ACP is expected to see substantial growth in the high-margin distribution and gaming market sectors in the second quarter of 2006. Such high-margin products are likely to account for 90 percent of the company's total sales for 2006. As the company currently focuses on high-margin products, its gross operating margin is expected to exceed 25 percent in 2006, while its overall sales will exceed the NT$3 billion (US$93.75 million) mark.

Flytech began shipping interactive kiosk machines to domestic supermarkets in March 2006. Such machines, priced at US$2,000 each, are likely to contribute NT$250 million (US$7.81 million) to the company's total sales in 2006. The company is expected to see a 50 percent yearly growth in sales, to reach NT$500 million (US$15.62 million) in the second quarter of 2006, a new record.

Finally, Portwell has seen substantial growth in sales of special-order products in the past two years. So far in 2006, the company has received over NT$1.5 billion (US$48.87 million) in orders for special-order products. In the first four months of 2006, the company has cumulative sales of NT$847 million (US$26.46 million), a yearly increase of 45 percent. With the continuing influx of orders, the company is expected to register a sequential growth of more than 10 percent in the second quarter of 2006.