Getac focuses on UAV business opportunities in Europe and the United States, GCS revenue contribution next year is expected to be 10%

Getac Chairman Huang Minghan pointed out at the French press conference today that its UAV ground control station business has received orders from Europe and the United States. (Photo by reporter Fang Weijie)

[Reporter Fang Weijie/Report from Taipei] Rugged computer maker Getac (3005) is actively seizing business opportunities in the global defense industry. Chairman Huang Minghan pointed out at the French press conference today that its drone ground control station (GCS) business has received orders from Europe and the United States. As the demand for national defense in various countries continues to heat up, the company is optimistic about the growth potential of related businesses. It targets that the GCS business revenue will account for 5% to 10% of the overall revenue in 2027, and there may even be opportunities to further increase it.

Huang Minghan said that the global defense industry demand has been the main source of growth for Getac in recent years, especially the European and American markets. The scale of orders is relatively large, and the value of some overseas single orders even exceeds the total of all related orders in the Taiwan market. Therefore, in addition to continuing to strive for domestic business opportunities, the company will also focus on large overseas system integrators, hoping to obtain larger-scale orders through long-term cooperation.

Huang Minghan pointed out that UAV GCS does not simply sell rugged computers, but requires system integration such as task management software, imaging modules, radio communications and control equipment, and the product application has a certain degree of complexity. Getac is currently continuing to cooperate with relevant global players in development and expects to gradually expand business results from 2027 to 2028.

Regarding the operating outlook for 2027, Huang Minghan said that Getac has continued to invest in precision marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) in recent years. The current business opportunity visibility has been extended from the past 6 to 12 months to about 18 months. The related potential business opportunities can even be laid out as far as 2029, which helps to grasp the needs of national defense and other industries in advance, and cooperates with customers to develop new products to further expand market share.

As for operations in 2026, Huang Minghan pointed out that the original forecast of annual revenue growth of 5% to 10%, but benefited from the growth of the rugged computer business better than expected, even if the demand for consumer electronics and laptop-related mechanical components weakens, the full-year revenue is still expected to deliver low double-digit annual growth performance, which is better than the original target, and the related growth momentum is expected to continue to 2027.

However, the continued price increase of key components such as memory and solid-state drives (SSDs) has also put pressure on the supply chain. Huang Minghan said that the delivery time of some components has been extended from the original 2 to 3 months to 4 to 6 months, or even 7 months. The company expects to continue to adjust product prices in the first quarter of 2027, and will use AI to predict customer demand and strategically prepare materials in advance to reduce the impact of material shortages on shipments.

Huang Minghan emphasized that Getac is currently paying more attention to the accumulation of gross profit and increasing market share. It hopes to expand its competitive advantage during the period of industrial cost fluctuations. After the prices of key components gradually stabilize, it will seek to recover gross profit margin and lay the foundation for future profit growth.

Getac's revenue in the first three quarters of this year totaled 32.252 billion yuan, an annual increase of 10.7%. Its net profit after tax was 3.946 billion yuan, an annual increase of 0.1%, and earnings per share was 6.32 yuan. In the third quarter of this year, Getac's revenue was 11.431 billion yuan, an annual increase of 17%. Net profit after tax was 1.286 billion yuan, an annual decrease of 2.1%, and earnings per share were 2.06 yuan; the company's revenue in October was 3.523 billion yuan, a monthly decrease of 10.7% and an annual increase of 5.5%. The cumulative revenue in the first 10 months was 35.78 billion yuan, an annual increase of 10.2%, setting a new high record for the same period.