Macronix International Co (旺宏電子), a local memory chipmaker that counts Nintendo Co among its clients, yesterday raised its shipment forecast for the current quarter on the back of stronger-than-expected demand from its East Asian customers.
The revision came after the chipmaker yesterday reported higher sales last month, joining the nation’s top handset chip supplier MediaTek Inc (聯發科) in fine-tuning prospects for the current quarter despite the economic recession.
Shipments could rise or drop by 5 percent in the first quarter from less than 150,000 8-inch wafers in the final quarter of last year, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
This compares with its forecast in January of a decline of between 20 percent and 30 percent.
“Higher-than-expected demand from East Asian clients is the main reason behind the upgrade,” company chairman Miin Wu (吳敏求) said in the filing.
Japan is Macronix’s largest export destination, accounting for about 66 percent of the company’s total sales last quarter.
Orders for memory chips used in TV and game consoles grew faster than the company’s expectations, Wu told a press briefing yesterday.
However, the upward adjustment does not mean an early recovery for the semiconductor industry, Wu said, adding that he was sticking to his forecast of a recovery in the second half of next year at the earliest.
Wu added that he did not think US rival Spansion Inc’s filing for bankruptcy protection earlier this month contributed to Macronix’s recent increase in order.
Sales last month rose 19.4 percent year-on-year, or 48.6 percent month-on-month, to NT$1.86 billion, Macronix said in the filing.
Gross margin may slide to between 34 percent and 36 percent this quarter — higher than its previous forecast of between 15 percent and 20 percent — from 44 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, helped by better average selling prices and a weak local currency, the chipmaker said.
Factory utilization may also rise to around 50 percent this quarter from its previous forecast of between 40 percent and 50 percent, it said.
Macronix shares rose 0.82 percent to end at NT$12.35, outperforming the benchmark TAIEX, which was down 0.55 percent yesterday.
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