Touch-panel controller chip manufacturer Elan Microelectronics Corp (義隆電子) yesterday said its revenue reached NT$649.79 million (US$21.62 million) last month, rising on a monthly and yearly basis, thanks to increased shipments of touch-screen driver ICs.
Last month’s figure was up 22.9 percent from NT$528.72 million in February and 20.11 percent from NT$540.98 million in March last year, Elan said in a statement issued after the stock market closed.
In the three months ending on March 31, Elan’s consolidated revenue expanded 21.43 percent to NT$1.87 billion compared with the year before, the company said.
However, the figure was down 2.16 percent compared with the previous quarter, it said.
Last month’s sales breakdown showed that 64 percent of revenue came from touch controller-related products (34 percent touchscreen ICs and 30 percent touchpad modules) that are used in smartphones, Google Inc’s Android and Microsoft Corp’s Windows 8 tablets, and Windows 8 notebooks and ultrabooks, Elan said.
“With more big notebook brands and models receiving the Windows 8 touch logo certification, Elan’s touchscreen ICs shipments posted double-digit percentage growth in the first quarter compared with the previous quarter,” the firm said.
Elan did not provide sales guidance for this quarter, but said its touchscreen ICs are being integrated into Windows 8 notebooks and Ultrabooks released by the world’s top 10 notebook brands, and that its products remain competitive.
Elan last week sued Taiwan’s Egalax Empia Technology Inc (禾瑞亞科技) for infringing on its capacitive touch technology patent. This follows a lawsuit Elan filed against China-based Pixcir Microelectronics Co (瀚瑞微電子) last month for infringing a similar patent.
Elan’s first-quarter results were higher than the NT$1.82 billion estimated by Deutsche Bank analyst Jessica Chang (張幸宜), who forecast that this quarter’s sales would increase by 20 percent to NT$2.19 billion due to rising Windows 8-related sales.
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