Parade Technologies Ltd (譜瑞), a major supplier of mixed-signal ICs and display chips, on Thursday gave a mild outlook for this quarter after reporting positive results for last quarter.
The company predicted that sales for the April-to-June period would either drop 9.3 percent or increase 0.29 percent quarter-on-quarter to between US$85 million and US$94 million, with gross margin reaching 40 to 43 percent.
“We have seen a favorable growth trend from the high-speed [signal transmission interface solutions] segment in recent quarters … and we expect a stable gross margin increase from the second quarter onward,” Parade cofounder and chief executive officer Jack Zhao (趙捷) told an investors’ conference.
While the second quarter is a traditionally slow season, notebook computer customers would increase demand in preparation for the summer, Zhao said.
Overall, the company said that business in the second half of the year would be better than the first half due to seasonal demand and new product launches.
Zhao said he also expects Intel Corp to solve the shortage of central processing units in the second half of the year, which would affect Parade positively.
Parade’s high-speed signal transmission interface solutions and display chips are used in a variety of computers, consumer electronics and display panels. The company is also a leading supplier of embedded DisplayPort (eDP) solutions.
Parade recently launched a new eDP timing-controller driver IC for LCD displays, providing narrower chip-on-glass package dimensions to reduce a display’s bottom border thickness, as well as a new touch-and-display-driver IC that helps optimize smartphone panels while avoiding the need for a more expensive chip-on-film package.
The company is also working on mini-LED solutions for tablets, smartwatches and other products.
Last quarter, net income increased 141.64 percent year-on-year to NT$573.14 million (US$18.54 million) from NT$404.65 million, with earnings per share of NT$7.42.
In the first quarter, revenue increased 22.27 percent to NT$2.89 billion from NT$2.36 billion a year earlier, while gross margin rose from 40.84 percent to 41.87 percent.
Gains were driven by robust sales of Apple iPads, the high-speed segment and driver ICs, Zhao said.
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