Taiwanese makers benefit from hot sales in GPS market

Taipei, July 4, 2005 (CENS)--The hot sales in the global positioning system (GPS) market have kept pushing up shipment volumes of Taiwanese suppliers of GPS products, according to industry sources.

Some major makers of GPS-related products in Taiwan are expected to enjoy high sales growth this year, including MiTAC International Corp., Kinpo Electronics Inc., Holux Technology Inc., and RoyalTek Co., Ltd.

Kinpo has set an annual GPS-device shipment goal of one million units, up over 60% from last year, with its annual revenue to challenge NT$3.6 billion (US$115.02 million at US$1: NT$31.3), up NT$1 billion (US$31.95 million) from last year.

Industry sources said that the GPS applications have been expanded from military and professional segments into the consumer markets, especially in the automotive navigation, security, and recreational fields. The booming sales of GPS products are benefiting both makers of finished products and key components/modules.

Kinpo president Kuo Hsian-ming said that in addition to printer manufacturing, GPS would be another major engine behind the firm's revenue growth. Last year, Kinpo launched 14 GPS device models, including both handheld and on-board unit (OBU) types, and over 600,000 units of the devices were shipped, generating revenue of about NT$2.6 billion (US$83.07 million).

In addition to self-production, Kinpo also contracts its subsidiary in Thailand, the Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (CCET), to handle part of its GPS production. This year, CCET is expected to ship 20,000 to 30,000 units of high-level OBU GPS models per month.

Kinpo, with the top-three product categories of consumer electronics, audio/video products, and networking/communication products, reported revenue of NT$16.62 billion (US$530.89 million) last year, up 21% from the previous year. Some institutional investors estimated that Kinpo's revenue to challenge NT$20 billion (US$638.98 million) this year due to increasing shipments of printers and GPS products.

Kinpo is ready to step into the smart-phone business and launch two new models in July, which will target local and Southeast Asian markets in the initial stage.