Amid stronger-than-expected demand for handset chips from China and emerging markets, MediaTek Inc (聯發科) has raised its forecast for first-quarter revenue, the nation’s largest handset chip supplier said on Friday.
MediaTek, the world’s second-largest handset chip supplier after Qualcomm Inc, expects revenue to grow between 5 percent and 10 percent in the first three months this year from NT$29.1 billion (US$908.8 million) in the previous three months, the company said in a filing with the stock exchange.
This was better than the Hsinchu-based company’s Feb. 1 forecast of a quarterly increase of up to 5 percent to NT$30.6 billion.
Last month, MediaTek saw revenue fall 0.6 percent to NT$7.88 billion from NT$7.93 billion a year ago and drop 41.99 percent from the previous month’s NT$13.58 billion, the company said in a separate filing on Friday.
In the first two months, revenue was up 51.79 percent to NT$21.46 billion from NT$14.14 billion a year ago, the company’s financial data showed.
Citigroup analysts last month said MediaTek could report a quarterly increase between 10 percent and 15 percent in first-quarter revenue thanks to strong business performance in January, when sales rose nearly 119 percent year-on-year.
While analysts have warned that the saturated handset market in China could cause downward pressure on the company’s margin, MediaTek said it would stick to its previous guidance for first-quarter gross margin, which is expected to narrow to between 56 percent and 57 percent from 58.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to its filing on Friday.
Aside from Chinese mobile phone makers, MediaTek also supplies handset chips to such global brands as Motorola Inc and LG Electronics Inc.
The company’s shares were down 0.97 percent to NT$509 in Friday trading after the announcement of the revised forecast. The stock has declined 8.78 percent since the beginning of this year, compared with a fall of 6.37 percent on the benchmark TAIEX.
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