Memorychip maker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) forecast its profits would expand this year from last year, supported by robust demand for memory chips used in mobile, automotive and Internet-of-Things devices, a company executive said yesterday.
“We have remained profitable for the fourth consecutive year. We foresees this year’s earnings outpacing last year on our continued efforts to increase sales of high-end products and enhance our customer portfolio,” Winbond president Chan Tung-yi (詹東義) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
Chan declined to offer a growth estimate.
Growth momentum in Winbond’s mobile DRAM segment, which accounted for 14 percent of the firm’s total sales, would extend into this year, as Winbond has secured orders from a leading global handheld devices vendor, Chan said.
Sales contribution from automotive products is to climb from last year’s 18 percent, while shipments of SLC NAND flash would also expand this year, Chan said.
Chan said the company started migrating from 4x-nanometer technology to more advanced 3x-nanometer technology from December last year in its production of DRAM chips.
The 3x-nanometer process technology is expected to begin mass production and contribute to revenue in the third quarter of this year, he said.
As technology migration continues, Winbond expects to receive customers’ certification of its 2x-nanometer technology in the first half of next year.
To finance the technology migration plans, Winbond plans to spend up to NT$16.6 billion (US$535 million) on capital expenditure this year, including new equipment purchases and research and development, Chan said.
It would be Winbond’s highest annual capital expenditure in the company’s history, Chan said.
Winbond yesterday reported a better-than-expected net income of NT$820 million for last quarter, up from NT$817 million the previous year.
The figure represented a quarterly growth of 24.24 percent from NT$660 million in the third quarter of last year, company data showed.
In total, the firm made a net profit of NT$3.14 billion last year, down 9.51 percent from the previous year’s NT$3.47 billion.
Revenue last year climbed 10 percent to NT$42.09 billion, the data showed.
Chan attributed the decline in annual net income to higher investment in research and development.
The firm invested NT$5.75 billion in research and development last year, accounting for 13.67 percent of the company’s annual revenue of NT$42.09 billion, a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.
Winbond also released its revenue for last month, which fell 1.02 percent year-on-year to NT$3.42 billion.
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