Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s biggest DRAM manufacturer, yesterday said that revenue last month declined 8 percent from February because of lower shipments to China.
Revenue contracted to NT$2.98 billion last month, from February’s NT$3.24 billion. In annual terms, revenue was down 20 percent from NT$3.74 billion a year ago.
Nanya said shipments to China were postponed because some firms took early leave for the Tomb Sweeping holiday this month.
Shipments were down 13 percent last month from February, but the average selling price rose 6 percent month-on-month, the company said.
First-quarter revenue reached NT$8.79 billion, down 18 percent from NT$10.73 billion in the same period last year, because of weak pricing.
Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技), the DRAM joint venture between Nanya Technology and Micron Technology Inc, also reported a revenue drop of 2.7 percent month-on-month to NT$2.52 billion last month. Sales were also down 30 percent from NT$3.63 billion in March last year.
Revenue in the first three months of the year fell 17 percent to NT$7.93 billion, from NT$9.59 billion in the same period last year.
In contrast, memory chipmaker Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) reported that revenue expanded 23.4 percent to NT$2.11 billion, hitting its highest level in three months.
Company spokesman Eric Tang (譚仲民) attributed the growth to a 50 percent expansion in its DRAM chip output last month and unexpectedly strong demand from clients in the contract chip manufacturing business.
“Strong demand for chips used in smartphones drove up demand for our contract chip manufacturing business. We are seeing clear prospects for the business,” Tang said.
“We were unable to meet customer demand because of limited capacity,” he added.
Powerchip’s revenue in the first quarter reached NT$5.45 billion, down 50.14 percent from NT$10.93 billion in the first quarter of last year.
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