UPDATE 1-Asustek strong Q3 points to brighter days ahead

* Q3 net profit T$6.5 bln, beating T$2.97 bln forecast

* Revenue down 14 pct y/y as cheap netbooks hurt revenue

* Analysts upbeat on current quarter, Windows 7 to help (Recasts, adds details, quote)

TAIPEI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Netbook PC pioneer Asustek's (2357.TW) market-beating third-quarter net profit reaffirmed a return in consumer confidence for tech buys, and raised expectations for similarly strong results from its peers in coming days.

It was the firm's first net profit after three straight quarters of net or operating losses, leading analysts to forecast equally strong results for the current three months during the peak pre-Christmas shopping season.

"Asustek's been gaining market share in the laptop PC field, and I'm looking forward to hearing some good news from them soon," said Calvin Huang, an analyst at Daiwa Securities. "Things should look up from now."

Asustek shares opened more than 3 percent higher after the results, while the benchmark TAIEX share index edged down 0.4 percent.

The firm made a third-quarter net profit of T$6.497 billion ($199 million), it said in a filing late on Monday, soundly beating market expectations for a T$2.97 billion net profit according to a poll by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

It was also better than a net profit of T$6.38 billion it recorded a year ago.

Revenue fell more than 14 percent to T$67.1 billion from T$78.3 billion a year ago, hurt by rapidly falling unit prices largely due to the growing popularity of the low-cost netbook PC the company pioneered in 2007.

The company did not give any guidance in its statement, but Asustek's Chief Executive Jerry Shen told reporters last week he expects shipments of its laptop PCs to outpace the overall market's 30 percent advance. [ID:nTP290911]

Microsoft's (MSFT.O) launch of its Windows 7 operating system on Oct. 22 is expected to give the sector a further boost, with some of Asustek's bigger rivals such as Dell (DELL.O) and Lenovo (0992.HK) predicting a positive impact for the PC industry.

Asustek's bigger crosstown rival Acer (2353.TW) had said last week it expects its third-quarter net profit to reach T$3.45 billion, while most analysts expect Lenovo to report its earnings during the first week of November.

(Reporting by Kelvin Soh and Argin Chang; editing by Ken Wills)