Memorychip maker Macronix International Co (旺宏) yesterday said that it is shipping high-density memory chips for Huawei Technologies Co’s (華為) 5G base stations and expects client demand for the chips to peak next year or in 2021 in step with the global deployment of the next-generation wireless networks.
Other than Huawei, “80 percent of the [world’s] 5G companies are adopting our chips as well. Those [clients] are from China, Japan, Europe and South Korea,” Macronix chairman Miin Wu (吳敏求) told reporters at the company’s headquarters in Hsinchu.
“I believe the company is a major supplier to those [5G] clients,” he added.
Photo: CNA
As global telecom operators are just beginning to install base stations this year, shipments of Macronix’s memory chips used in 5G base stations are expected to peak next year, or the year after, Wu said.
He said that 5G base stations are expected to require a significant amount of memory chips, as they are usually equipped with high-density NOR flash with 1 or 2 gigabytes of memory.
Not only 5G technology, but also true wireless stereo earbuds are driving demand for memory chips and boosting memorychip prices, Wu said.
“Based on the information on hand, I think [prices] will grow mildly. The semiconductor looks quite good... There is room for price increases in the second half next year,” he said. “Demand for NOR flash and NAND flash memory chips should surpass supply sometime next year.”
Macronix expects demand to improve every quarter next year, he said.
Macronix, which turned 30 earlier this month, plans to ship its first 3D 48-layer NAND flash memory chips in the second half of next year, with the first batch going to Nintendo Co.
The chipmaker said that 3D 96-layer NAND flash memory chips would follow in 2021 and 192-layer chips in 2022.
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Macronix is exhibiting innovative technologies and products — such as chips used in autonomous vehicles, automated external defibrillators, Fibit Inc’s smart watches, drones and Nintendo Co’s Switch game consoles — in a new showroom at its headquarters.
The company aims to grow its revenue from medical, industrial and automobile devices to make up 50 percent of the company’s revenue in the long term, compared with the current 25 percent, Wu said.
Macronix invests 15 percent of its annual revenue in research and development (R&D) and had 7,950 patents granted as of October, the company said, adding that about 20 percent of its 40,000 employees are R&D staff.
Macronix said that it would give a NT$10,000 (US$328) bonus to each employee to celebrate its anniversary.
In other words, it would pay a total of NT$40 million in bonuses, which Wu said reflected the company’s gratitude for the contribution made by its employees and support from their families.
The company reported earnings per share of NT$4.94 for last year and NT$1.21 per share for the first three quarters of this year.
Revenue for last month decreased 6 percent to NT$3.66 billion, from NT$3.89 billion a year earlier. In the first 11 months, cumulative revenue totaled NT$29.08 billion, 9 percent less than the NT$31.87 billion reported for the same period last year.
Additional reporting by CNA
TV and online retailer Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) yesterday said it has set up a new logistics subsidiary, Fu Sheng Logistics Co (富昇物流), to oversee the company’s extensive shipping operations. Leveraging Momo’s 23 satellite warehouses and distribution centers nationwide, Fu Sheng will be in charge of executing the retailer’s same-day shipment plan for deliveries in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, Momo said in a press release. Seeking to further shorten its supply chain, the company is to set up another seven satellite warehouses and distribution centers by the end of the year. “Fu Sheng has a fleet of 200 couriers
‘ACCORDING TO PLAN’: A company official said that it has set up production sites worldwide to provide services and that its Wisconsin project was going smoothly Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) smart manufacturing center in Wisconsin would begin trial manufacturing in the middle of this year, the company said yesterday, adding that it plans to build a research institute to develop key technologies to support growth over the next five years. Hon Hai, known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said in an annual report submitted to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that its planned Foxconn Institute for Research in Science and Technology would conduct research into artificial intelligence, next-generation communications, quantum computing, cybersecurity and nano semiconductors in Taiwan. Hon Hai is to make products at the center
US-CHINA TENSIONS: The company said that it supplies self-designed chips to the Chinese company and, as such, is not affected by the latest US export restrictions Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) said it does not expect its shipments of memory chips to Huawei Technologies Co (華為) to be affected by the latest US export restrictions on the Chinese tech giant. “As long as the company [Huawei] places orders, we will ship [chips], unless the [Taiwanese] government restricts all Taiwanese companies from shipping” to Huawei, Macronix chairman and chief executive officer Miin Wu (吳敏求) said on Monday in Hsinchu. The US Department of Commerce on Friday took a further step to block chip supplies from non-US companies to Huawei by requiring foreign semiconductor makers to get US government permission before
E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), the world’s sole supplier of e-paper displays for e-readers and shelf labels, posted its best quarterly net profit for the first quarter in nine years amid increased demand during a traditionally slow season. Net profit soared 80 percent to NT$787 million (US$26.23 million) in the quarter ended March 31, compared with NT$438 million a year earlier. That translated into earnings per share of NT$0.69, up from NT$0.39. E Ink posted lower royalty income of NT$371.23 million last quarter from NT$448.74 million a year earlier, a company financial statement showed. E Ink said that it expects royalty income to
RSS