Wistron said its after-tax profits declined 14.7% on year to NT$1.1 billion (US$33 million) in the first quarter of 2007, making it the only one of the four first-tier notebook makers to experience a setback in profitability in the quarter.
The three other first-tier makers – Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics and Inventec – saw their after-tax earnings grow in a range between 18-62.5% in the January-March quarter, according to data from the companies.
The weak earnings might reflect Wistron's declined notebook shipments in the first quarter, said market sources, who estimated that Wistron shipped about two million notebooks, down 10% from a year earlier.
However, Wistron's first-quarter net EPS (earnings per share) of NT$0.87 were higher than Compal's NT$0.69 and Inventec's NT$0.71, although they were lower than Quanta's NT$1.02, according to data from the companies.