TPK Holding Co (宸鴻), a major supplier of touch modules to Apple Inc, saw its revenue double to NT$11.1 billion (US$382 million) last month, as clients ordered more components for their tablet and smartphone shipments.
It said revenue this month would rise from last month as it gradually ramps up shipments for customers’ new products.
Revenue last month rose 101 percent from August last year, but fell 6.6 percent from July, according to a statement.
“The drop in customer orders wasn’t as huge as expected. We had started to ship for new products last month and the momentum will pick up in September,” TPK chief financial executive Freddie Liu (劉詩亮) said at an investors’ conference held by Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The touch module maker had expected to see a bigger slump in revenue last month as its major customers cut orders in preparation to launch next-generation products.
TPK — which has more than 30 customers in Japan, South Korea and the US — generated more than 70 percent of its revenue from Apple, its largest customer.
Apple is widely expected to showcase its latest generation of iPhones this month, probably dubbed the iPhone 5, and start -selling the latest edition of the popular smartphone brand next month.
TPK’s revenue from January to last month jumped 214.7 percent from last year to NT$80.84 billion, according to the statement.
Liu said fourth-quarter revenue would rise over the third given that its clients are gearing up for product launches starting from late third quarter.
TPK last month changed its guidance for the third quarter, saying it expected revenues to be flat quarter-on-quarter revenue instead of the earlier projected 3 to 5 percent drop from the second quarter, which reported record revenues of NT$32.53 billion.
The company cited strong demand for smartphones and tablets as the main reasons for the guidance change.
Liu said the company separated from the pack with its leadership in customizing touch solutions for clients, high yield rate and capability to ship products in mass volumes in a timely manner.
TPK, which mainly supplies modules for smaller to mid-sized panel products such as 3.5 inches and 7 inches, said it was also preparing for larger panel products of 20 inches and above that offer better margins.
However, such products, including all-in-one PCs with touch capability, would not start contributing to revenue significantly for at least another year.
Smaller rival Wintek Corp (勝華) yesterday posted NT$9.01 billion in sales last month, up 5.27 percent from a month ago and up 46.07 percent from the same month last year.
For the first eight months of the year, the company’s sales increased 87.87 percent to NT$60.39 billion.
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