Check out Karin Technology's Apple-leveraging plans

95.5% of topline came from iPhone5.

According to OCBC, backed by its license to sell the full range of Apple products through its In-Smart retail stores in Hong Kong, we expect Karin Technology (Karin) to leverage on Apple’s leadership position in the smartphones and tablets space.

Here's more from OCBC:

Apple managed to retain its number one position for tablet shipments by capturing 50.4% of the global market share in 3QCY12, according to research firm IDC.

However, this was lower than the 65.5% share in 2QCY12, which we believe signifies increasing competitive pressures and a delay in purchases in anticipation of the iPad Mini and fourth-generation iPad launch by Apple.

For iPhone 5, Hong Kong, which contributed 95.5% of Karin’s FY12 topline, was one of the first Asian countries to sell the product during its worldwide launch on 21 Sep 2012.

We understand that Karin is currently carrying the aforementioned products (as well as preceding versions) in its retail stores. Besides sales to locals, the Apple products are also a draw for mainland tourists because of the absence of sales tax (other than on alcohol and tobacco) in Hong Kong.

However, the limiting growth factors would be supply constraints and low margins on these products, in our opinion.

Although the expected increase in revenue contribution from Karin’s lower-margin Consumer Electronics Products segment would likely put some pressure on its gross margin, we believe that management would seek to partially mitigate this by driving higher sales from network security products and enterprise software, which carries higher margins.

Research firm Gartner has forecasted worldwide spending on IT security to rise 8.4% to US$60b in 2012, with a further growth trajectory of 9.4% CAGR to US$86b from 2012 to 2016. We expect Karin to be a key beneficiary, given its strong portfolio of vendor products which addresses this space, such as Blue Coat, Check Point, F5 and McAfee.

Join Singapore Business Review community
Join Singapore Business Review community
A NOTE FROM SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.