TPK Holding Co (宸鴻), which counts Apple Inc as its top client, yesterday said resilient demand for large tablets helped it eke out a profit last quarter and that growth momentum would continue to underpin revenue this quarter.
Revenue is expected to slide less this quarter — the traditional slow season — at between 15 and 20 percent from NT$31.16 million (US$1.01 million) last quarter, TPK chief strategic officer Freddie Liu (劉詩亮) told a teleconference.
Based on the forecast, revenue in the worst-case scenario could reach NT$24.93 billion this quarter, representing growth of 42 percent from NT$17.79 billion a year earlier.
Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei Times
“The second quarter is an awkward period, as [customers are] adjusting inventories, while new products will only hit the market probably after the third quarter,” Liu said.
“Based on our experience, the second quarter will be a slow season and growth momentum will only return in the second half when [customers] launch new products,” he said.
With product portfolio optimization and stringent cost controls, TPK aims to break even on operating profit, Liu said.
Operating margin fell to 0.4 percent last quarter, compared with 1.1 percent a year earlier and 0.6 percent the previous quarter.
Demand from tablet clients remains steady, as such products are less vulnerable to seasonal changes than smartphones, Liu said.
Touch modules used in tablets also deliver a better gross margin than smartphones’ force touch sensors, he said.
TPK’s net profit plummeted 64.71 percent to NT$28 million last quarter, from NT$68 million a year earlier. Profits contracted by 87.5 percent from NT$192 million the previous quarter.
Earnings per share sank to NT$0.06 from NT$0.17 a year earlier and NT$0.47 a quarter earlier.
Touch modules used in tablets constituted 16 percent of TPK’s overall revenue last quarter, up from 9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
TPK saw shipments of tablet touch modules soar 70 percent quarter-on-quarter after Apple unveiled its 7.9-inch iPad mini and 10.5-inch iPad Air in the spring.
TPK benefited from US clients’ market share gains, as well as larger orders, Liu said.
Touch sensors used in smartphones made up 46 percent of total revenue, lower than 64 percent the previous quarter.
TPK would ramp up production of new touch sensors using silver nanowire technology for all-in-one PCs and public displays next quarter at the earliest, TPK chief executive officer Leo Hsieh (謝立群) said.
The company said it views silver nanowire technology a major solution to make up potential order losses from Apple and plans to spend NT$4 billion on new equipment.
The US firm is expected to stop using force touch sensors in this year’s new iPhones.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last