Touch controller chipmaker FocalTech Systems Co Ltd (敦泰科技) yesterday gave an upbeat outlook for this quarter, citing the peak season for electronic components.
“The third quarter is typically a strong season for smartphone shipments and we expect the same situation this year,” FocalTech chairman Genda Hu (胡正大) said during a conference call with investors following the release of financial results for last quarter.
Hu said that gross margin is likely to continue trending upward as the company focuses on shipping higher-margin integrated driver controller (IDC) units for on-cell touch screens.
“Companies still have a way to go to overcome the learning curve for on-cell display. There are a lot of potential opportunities to be gained as manufacturers scramble to achieve viable yield rates and economies of scale,” Hu said.
Hu said that the Samsung Electronics Co-driven OLED and AMOLED display technologies are poised to propel demand for in-cell IDC, in particular among flagship models.
In the April-to-June quarter, the company’s net income surged to NT$66 million (US$2.08 million) from a net loss of NT$97 million in the previous quarter. Earnings per share over the period were NT$0.23.
Sales in the three-month period gained 28.2 percent to NT$2.96 billion and gross profit rose 34.26 percent to NT$580 million over the same period, company data showed.
Operating income improved to NT$80 million, from a net operating loss of NT$97 million in the previous period, the company said.
FocalTech Systems posted a net loss of NT$31 million in the first half, compared with net income of NT$7 million a year earlier due to a lack of non-operating gains this year.
“The turnaround is due to an improved product mix that drove up gross margin from 18.7 percent in the first quarter to 19.6 percent last quarter,” FocalTech chief financial officer James Liao (廖俊杰) said.
Liao said that despite a dip in first-half earnings without the help of non-operating gains, the results show that the profitability of the company’s core business has improved.
FocalTech shares yesterday gained 0.66 percent to reach NT$30.5 in Taipei trading.
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