Inari rides wave of smart mobile devices

GEORGE TOWN: Inari Bhd, en route to a listing on Bursa Malaysia's ACE Market, is riding on the robust growth of global smart mobile devices, like smartphones and tablet personal computers (PC).

Inari managing director Dr Tan Seng Chuan yesterday said industry projections for smartphones and the explosion in the numbers of tablet PCs have spurred the company to expand its assembly capacity for radio frequency (RF) chips to meet the wave of smart mobile service demand.

"Having developed a strong track record in serving the semiconductor industry and the first wave of growth for smartphones and tablet PCs, we believe that we are well positioned to continue riding the momentum of strong consumer demand for these smart mobile devices in the coming years.

"In this respect, our initial public offering (IPO) is at an opportune time for us to raise the funding necessary to propel us forward and enhance our profile in the global semiconductor and electronic manufacturing services industry," he said at the launch of Inari's listing prospectus here yesterday.

For the past five years, Inari has carved a niche in providing end-to-end and vertically integrated semiconductor packaging services for chips in RF mobile technology and devices.

Its packaged chips serve as key components in the manufacturing of a wide range of high technology wireless telecommunications products in international markets, including smartphones and tablet PCs.

The robust demand for smart devices can be seen at a local reseller of Apple's iPad 2 since the product's launch at the end of April.

Apple's premium and longest serving reseller in the country, CG Computers Sdn Bhd, has seen overwhelming demand at all its 7 "Switch" storesin the Klang Valley, Penang and Sarawak.

"Customers are still unable to walk into any of our stores and pick up an iPad because they are being snapped up via pre-orders before they can even hit the shelves," CG Computers director Li Chau Ging told Business Times.

Li said although Malaysia is considered as a considerably smaller market for the iPad, its makers Apple has not been able to meet with the supply.

"We have had to stop taking orders for two weeks since the wait averages around two to three weeks and with some models, it takes between four and five weeks," he said, adding that the company hopes to take orders again by next week.

Meanwhile, Inari's IPO entails the public issue of 83 million new shares, of which 10 million shares are made available to the public via ballotting, 10.4 million shares for eligible directors, employees and business associates of the group and its subsidiaries, 26.1 million shares for private placement to selected investors and 36.5 million shares for Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.