Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s top supplier of power supply units, yesterday said it plans to build 30 more hot press choke assembly lines next year to meet rising demand for the energy-saving mobile device component from smartphone makers, including Apple Inc.
Delta currently supplies up to 300 million hot press choke units a month at a 90 percent yield rate.
Delta said it aims to optimize existing assembly lines first, before expanding capacity to double its hot press choke shipments to 600 million units a month later next year.
“There is a strong likelihood that demand for hot press chokes will increase because the mobile device component can boost the power efficiency of new mobile devices,” Delta spokesperson Jesse Chou (周志宏) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
In the lately emerged hot press choke market, Delta is able to outperform its Japanese rivals such as Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd and TDK Corp because the company has a strong engineering team that focuses on research and development of power-efficient passive components, Delta chairman Yancey Hai (海英俊) said at the conference.
Hai said Delta’s in-house R&D department is now capable of designing customized hot press choke products, conducting product tests and mass-manufacturing the product within three months.
“With expanded capacity [after new assembly lines are built], Delta is going to ship considerably more hot press chokes next year, continuing its leadership in the market,” Hai said.
Unlike traditional power chokes, which are designed to block higher-frequency alternating current while allowing lower-frequency current to pass in an electrical circuit, hot press chokes are smaller and have higher performance, Chou said.
The hot press choke sector remains a “seller’s market” as there are still few power supply unit makers in the market, while demand for energy-efficient mobile device components continues to expand, he said.
Currently, Delta supplies hot press chokes for high-end smartphone models such as Apple Inc’s iPhone 5s, the company said.
Due to increased shipments of passive components, Delta saw its net profits grow 5 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$4.53 billion (US$154.05 million) in the last quarter, with earnings per share of NT$1.86.
The figure, however, reflects a 6 percent year-on-year contraction because of decreased shipments of power supplies used in traditional desktops and laptops, the company said.
Despite a better product mix, total sales this quarter were expected to decline from NT$46.1 billion last quarter due to seasonal factors and macroeconomic uncertainties in China, Delta said.
Driven by growing demand for consumer electronics ahead of year-end holidays, Delta forecast its fourth-quarter sales of hot press chokes and other passive components would achieve quarter-on-quarter growth.
Total sales of passive components were estimated to account for 15 percent of the company’s total sales this quarter, up from a 10 percent stake last quarter, the company said.
To increase sales sources in response to weakening demand for traditional PCs, Delta aims to develop more power supply units designed for large-sized data centers, as well as those used in electric cars, Hai said.
Hai said Delta has been in talks with foreign clients about building a smart grid in the US to offer stable power supply to electric car owners in the country.
Delta’s shares closed up 3.33 percent at NT$155 yesterday, outperforming the benchmark TAIEX, which gained 0.73 percent.
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