Mixed early 2008 for Taiwan’s phone makers

Taiwan’s two leading original equipment manufacturers (OEM) of mobile phones, Compal Communications and Arima Communications, have reported contrasting results for February. Arima’s revenues for the month saw a 41.2% increase compared to February 2007. Compal’s revenues, on the other hand, dropped by 30.8% compared to February 2007.

February 2008 revenues for Arima totalled NT$1.2 billion (US$39.1 million), a 7.1% increase compared to January 2008.

Handset shipments for February totalled 750,000, a rise of 15.4% compared to the previous month. Total shipments for 2008 now stand at 1.4 million units.

In direct contrast of Arima’s results, Compal reported revenues of NT$2.7 billion for February, a 34.6% drop compared to January. This makes Compal’s total revenues for 2008 $6.82 billion, 24.5% lower than for the first two months in 2007.

Compal is planning to give dividends for 2007 of NT$4.5, including NT$4 in cash and NT$0.5 in shares. This is based upon net earnings per share of NT$7.05 for the year.