MACAO, CHINA – Nam Tai Electronics reported fourth quarter net sales of $186.9 million, down 18.6% year-over-year. Gross profit was $21 million, a decrease of 4.4% compared to the same quarter of 2006.

Separately, Nam Tai named Masaaki Yasukawa chief executive, superseding acting CEO M.K. Koo, who remains non-executive director and board chairman. Yasukawa worked for Seiko Epson for more than 20 years.

For the year, Nam Tai's net sales were $780.8 million, down 10.3% year-over-year. Gross profit was up 0.9% to $87 million.

A drop in telecommunications demand accounts for the decrease in sales, the company reported.

The TCA segment depends cellphone demand, and one of Nam Tai’s indirect customers suffered a substantial drop in sales volume in its mobile devices business in Asia and Europe, which continued into the fourth quarter and is showing no signs of reversing in 2008, Nam Tai said.

LCDP sales rose up 29% during the quarter, and consumer electronics and communication products were up 29.2% and 59.1% during the quarter and the year, respectively.

Competition remains intense and is expected to continue to manifest pricing pressures from customers, which poses a significant challenge for the EMS industry for the coming years, Nam Tai says.