Taiwan's Top 2 Bike Makers Witness Sales Revenue Drop in Jan.

Taipei, Feb. 15, 2012 (CENS)--For seasonal reasons, Taiwan's top two bicycle manufacturers, namely Giant Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and Merida Industry Co., Ltd., both saw sales revenue listed from factories operating at home drop to some extent in January year-on-year.

Giant's sales revenue for January declined by 6.19% yearly to NT$1.531 billion, due partly to fewer working days in the month, during which the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday lasted nine days, and partly due to shipment delays.

In the meantime, Merida, also affected by seasonal factors, suffered a deeper drop of 35.9% in sales revenue of NT$805 million in the month compared to a year ago. The company emphasized that to counter the nine-day-long holiday in the month, it postponed part of planned production at the factories in Taiwan to February. This caused its overall output to be around 20,000 units less than planned originally.

Fretted by a considerable revenue decline in Taiwan, Merida, however, enjoyed strong sales in China in the month. According to the company, its sales in the market significantly surged 64% in value, driving its combined revenue for January to hit NT$1.177 billion, up 22.34 from a year ago. Also fueled by robust market demand in China, the company scored a 13.34% yearly growth in the sales volume of 104,400 units.

Worth mentioning is that the statistics compiled by Taiwan Bicycle Exporters' Association show that the island's exports of finished bicycles declined by 3.59% yearly to some 428,800 units in January, but export revenue amounted to around US$170 million for a 10.76% increase, with the average export price reaching US$403.97 per unit, up 14.89% yearly.

The statistics also indicate that Taiwan's exports of bicycle parts and components in the same month totaled US$82.17 million for a 23.61% yearly growth, while imports shrank by 5.15% to US$74.81 million.