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.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
TikTok abounds with viral videos accusing prestigious brands of secretly manufacturing luxury goods in China so they can be sold at cut prices. However, while these “revelations” are spurious, behind them lurks a well-oiled machine for selling counterfeit goods that is making the most of the confusion surrounding trade tariffs. Chinese content creators who portray themselves as workers or subcontractors in the luxury goods business claim that Beijing has lifted confidentiality clauses on local subcontractors as a way to respond to the huge hike in customs duties imposed on China by US President Donald Trump. They say this Chinese decision, of which Agence
RSS