Touchpanel maker TPK Holding Co (宸鴻) yesterday said that revenue last month bucked the trend by rising 12.2 percent as it gained more market share.
Revenue rose to NT$14.05 billion (US$455.71 million) from NT$12.53 billion in December last year, according to a company statement.
The company usually sees revenue dip in the first month of a year from the prior month, as the electronics industry enters its slow season.
On an annual basis, revenue soared 46.9 percent from NT$9.57 billion in January last year, the statement showed.
As customer demand usually dwindles during the slow quarter, TPK said the unusual monthly growth mostly came from market share gains.
Three months ago, TPK hinted that it shared half of Apple Inc’s orders for touch modules for its lower-priced iPhone XR.
General Interface Solution Holding (GIS, 業成), the other touch module supplier, saw a significant decline in revenue last month.
The touch panel manufacturing arm of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Tuesday said that revenue last month contracted 42.06 percent to NT$10.22 billion, citing seasonal factors and inventory correction by key customers
The Miaoli-based company made NT$17.64 billion in revenue in December last year.
Separately, TPK declined to comment on media reports that it plans to team up with China’s state-controlled Silk Road Fund (絲路基金) to invest between ¥60 billion and ¥80 billion (US$542 million and US$723 million) in financially troubled display supplier Japan Display Inc (JDI).
In return, TPK and Silk Road Fund would get a 30 to 50 percent stake in JDI, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday.
JDI, a major LCD panel supplier for the iPhone XR, said in a company statement that the report “is not based on any announcement made” by the company.
The company has been in negotiations with several outside parties regarding alliances and is seeking an agreement in the near future, the statement said, adding that nothing has been decided.
TPK is scheduled to hold a quarterly investors’ conference tomorrow to provide last quarter’s financial results and its business outlook this quarter.
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