Industrial PC sales rise

China Economic News (CENS) reports both Adlink and Winmate, two industrial PC manufacturers, have had strong sales in Q2. CENS says

Taiwan's leading manufacturers of industrial personal computers, including Adlink Technology Inc. and Winmate Communication Inc., posted outstanding sales in the first half of this year.

After acquiring the U.S.-based Ampro Co. several months ago, Adlink saw quarterly sales break the NT$800 million (US$26.4 million at US$1:NT$30.3) mark in the second quarter of this year. The company saw overall sales exceeding NT$1.3 billion (US$42.9 million) in the first half of this year, up a whopping 36% year-on-year from NT$975 million (US$32.17 million). Winmate saw second-quarter sales reach NT$395 million (US$13.03 million), hitting a historic high for nine quarters in a row and up 47.2% year-on-year.

Since I work in the IPC industry this should be good news for me and the company I work for. Perhaps! However the reporter fails to mention how much of Adlink's growth is directly attributable to Ampro. It would be good to see the breakdown of Ampro sales and Adlink sales and see where the actual increases are being derived! I do believe Adlink will benefit from both economies of scale and scope with their acquisition of Ampro but I would be interested to see how the sales are being broken down between the two companies.

To emphasize this report, while the the Taiex slumped 1.21% today, the share prices for many IPC companies were up by more than 2%. IBASE led the way with a greater than 6% increase in the share price. Adlink went up 2.99%.

Article: Industrial PC Firms Achieve Brisk Sales in Q2

Industrial PC Companies Continue to Shine

China Economic News (CENS) reported industrial PC (IPC) companies posted impressive sales in April. CENS says:

Taiwan's industrial computer makers, including IBASE Technology Inc., Winmate Communication Inc., ICP Electronics Inc. and ADLINK Technology Inc., all enjoyed shining sales records for April, according to company sources.

IBASE has benefited from an influx in orders for the card dealing machines from Casinos around the world. Winmate has managed to generate significant orders for their digital signage solutions and ICP Electronics has secured strong orders for lottery machines. Investors predict ICP Electronics will have April sales of around NT$359 million and that these sales will further increase when the new plants in Shanghai come on line in the next few months. Adlink has also had a revenue growth mostly due to a growth in orders in Taiwan and Europe.

Since I work in this industry, I really hope it continues to prosper.

Article: Taiwan`s Industrial Computer Makers Post Shinning Sales Records for April

Interview with Adlink GM P.J. Go

In an Embedded Computing interview Adlink's general manager P.J. Go describes the motivation behind Adlink's recent acquisition of U.S. based Ampro:

The main reason we wanted to buy Ampro is because the company plays very strongly in the U.S. Military, aerospace, and medical markets. We have had fairly limited success penetrating those markets here in the United States. In addition, Ampro gives us a great revenue base in the United States. Our U.S revenue will represent 35 percent of the company’s total revenue, instead of the 15 percent that it represented previously.

Ampro also adds to our toolkit expertise in extended temperature and the shock and vibe specs required by the military and aerospace market. Ampro is used to building boards that can go from -40 ºC to +85 ºC for operating temperatures. ADLINK had been doing -20 ºC to +70 ºC or usually, 0 to 50 ºC.

Of course, as noted earlier, this makes Adlink the third largest IPC provider in Taiwan behind Advantech and ICP Electronics.

This horizontal merger is classic product and market diversification through merger and acquisitions (M&A). Many companies do this so as to develop better positions in foreign markets, to secure more reliable distribution networks in new markets and to purchase new expertise and product lines. Clearly Adlink are hoping to learn how to develop more durable systems. One of the biggest challeneges for Adlink will be cross-cultural management. Despite this, this acquisition seems to be a big win for Adlink. However, as with most M&A, only time will tell.

Interview: A few minutes with ADLINK’s PJ Go and Jeff Munch

Adlink Acquires Ampro

In their quest to become one of the largest industrial PC manufacturers in Taiwan, Adlink acquired Ampro, a high-end industrial PC manufacturer with 25-years experience. Ampro products are applied in typical IPC applications such as communications, aviation and military. Digitimes reports:

The addition of Ampro enables Adlink to offer Extreme Rugged, rugged and industrial products and services for use in aircraft, trains, ships and other environments that subject equipment to extended temperature, shock and vibration.

Digitimes reports that this acquisition makes Adlink the third largest IPC manufacturer in Taiwan and the China Economic News (CENS) reports:

ADLINK Technology Inc., after fully acquiring U.S.`s Ampro, is also expected to see its April revenue hit a single-month high.

Article 1: Adlink Technology completes acquisition of Ampro Computers
Article 2: Taiwan`s Industrial Computer Makers Post Solid Sales Performance in Q2

Can Adlink become Taiwan's Second Biggest IPC Maker

An article on Digitimes suggests Adlink wants to become the second largest Industrial PC (IPC) manufacturer in Taiwan. Since I work for an IPC company myself this article is interesting. The IPC industry is a very unique, niche industry and the current giants, Advantech and Kontron, continue to do well in innovation and ICP Electronics continues to grow with their IEI Technology Brand. Advantech have recently restructured their own organization and continue to lead the field.

From the article it does seem that Adlink are moving into systems as most IPC companies are now. Most IPC companies started out as industrial motherboard manufacturers and have evolved into systems development. Some of the bigger application areas include Medical PCs, Panel PCs, digital signage and point of sales (POS) machines. Most significant IPC companies are moving in that general direction. It will good to see how the competitive IPC environment plays itself out over the coming years.

Digitimes quotes company chairman James Liu as saying:

"The planned large growth in consolidated revenues will come mainly from industrial automation product lines and embedded-computing controllers applied to medical care, transportation and general engineering."

(Original Article: Adlink aims to be second largest Taiwan-based IPC maker)