Local memory chipmaker Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) yesterday reported its strongest quarterly net income in about 10 years, boosted by strong demand from its biggest client Nintendo, maker of the DS and Wii gaming systems.
Net income grew 22 percent to NT$2.76 billion (US$893 million), or NT$0.83 per share, from NT$2.27 billion, or NT$0.7 a share, a year ago, according to a company financial statement. That meant a 21 percent quarter-on-quarter rise from NT$2.28 billion, or NT$0.68 per share, in the second quarter.
Gross margin jumped to the highest level in a decade to 58 percent last quarter, helped by increasing prices. Gross margin was 51 percent in the second quarter and 46 percent in the third quarter of last year.
Looking forward, Macronix chairman Miin Wu (吳敏求) said revenues would contract as high as 29 percent this quarter to between NT$5.8 billion and NT$6 billion, mostly because of weak demand for NOR flash memory chips, compared with NT$8.16 billion last quarter.
“Customers have built up high inventories over the last two quarters and they have to digest them ... There’s mounting price pressure too,” Wu said.
Wu expected the price for NOR flash memory chips to come down by 10 percent to 20 percent -quarter-on-quarter this quarter.
NOR flash memory chips, which are widely used for data storage in computers and consumer electronics like mobile phones and televisions, accounted for 52 percent of Macronix’s overall revenues last quarter, down from 68 percent in the quarter ending June 30.
In addition, demand for another type of memory chip, ROM, would weaken too as its major customer Nintendo is reducing its orders because of a transition to a new platform, Wu said.
ROM business made up a bigger share, or 39 percent, last quarter, from 22 percent in the second quarter, after shipments jumped 70 percent quarter-on-quarter during the traditional summer high season for game console sales.
This quarter, slowing demand for Macronix’s major products will bring down the factory utilization rate to more than 90 percent from full operations last quarter, it said.
Gross margin would slide to between 51 percent and 52 percent, the chipmaker said.
However, Wu said the first quarter could be a better period than the final quarter of this year as it plans to ramp up a new 12-inch plant to match robust customer demand.
Marconix said it planned to spend NT$30 billion on the new plant and aimed to boost monthly capacity to 20,000 12-inch wafers by the end of next year.
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