Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋) on Monday reported that its revenue stopped falling last month, aided by increased orders from major client Avago Technologies Ltd.
Consolidated revenue increased 3.86 percent month-on-month and 22.07 percent year-on-year to NT$1.443 billion (US$49.5 million), the company said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing.
First-quarter revenue reached NT$4.464 billion, up 36.48 percent from a year earlier, but down 19.96 percent from the previous quarter, company data showed.
The company’s earnings per share for the first quarter should reach NT$3, local Chinese-language media reported, citing institutional investors’ estimates.
The company’s revenue is expected to surge further, following a ramp-up in Apple Inc-related components later this quarter, the reports said.
Win Semiconductors is the world’s leading gallium arsenide wafer foundry services provider for monolithic microwave chips and radio frequency chips.
Last year, the company saw its revenue grow 25 percent year-on-year to NT$17.09 billion and its net income rise 20 percent to NT$3.72 billion, both hitting record levels.
Its earnings per share were NT$9.34, thanks to the production of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) components for California-based Lumentum Holdings Inc, which are used by Apple’s new TrueDepth front-facing camera for facial recognition in the iPhone X.
Win Semiconductors’ local peers — Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co (全新光電) and Advanced Wireless Semiconductor Co (宏捷科技) — also reported rising sales for last month, according to their exchange filings on Tuesday.
Advanced Wireless Semiconductor registered revenue of NT$188.34 million last month, its highest in 21 months, thanks to more orders from clients and a higher number of working days compared with February.
Last month’s figure grew 45.6 percent month-on-month and 21.79 percent year-on-year. That brought first-quarter revenue to NT$464.53 million, up 5.37 percent from the same period last year, company data showed.
Visual Photonics posted NT$178.83 million in revenue last month, up 2.4 percent from February, but down 9.73 percent from a year earlier. In the first quarter, total revenue reached NT$562.88 million, an annual increase of 14.14 percent, the company said.
As many Android phones are expected to gradually duplicate the 3D-sensing feature behind Apple’s recognition technology, analysts said the three firms would install more metal organic chemical vapor deposition tools this year for the production of VCSEL-related components.
The demand for VCSEL components is likely to surge as their applications involve handsets, notebook computers, automotive parts and medicare items, which would benefit the three Taiwanese firms, analysts said.
Win Semiconductors shares closed at NT$308 on Tuesday, down 0.81 percent from the previous session, while Advanced Wireless Semiconductor shares fell 1.65 percent to NT$59.7 and Visual Photonics shares declined 0.45 percent to NT$111.5.
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