Local memory chipmaker Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) yesterday reported its highest quarterly earnings in eight years, thanks to robust demand for memory chips used in consumer electronics, such as Nintendo Co’s game consoles.
Net income grew 7 percent to NT$2.27 billion (US$70 million) in the July to September quarter, compared with NT$2.12 billion earned a year ago, the highest since 2001. Gross margin also climbed to a seven-year high at 46 percent in the third quarter, Macronix said.
Macronix said, however, that the fourth quarter would be weaker. Revenues may fall by up to 21 percent to between NT$6.5 billion and NT$6.7 billion this quarter, from a peak of NT$8.28 billion last quarter.
“We are more conservative about game [console demand],” company chairman Miin Wu (吳敏求) told a media briefing.
Macronix supplies NOR flash memory chips to Kyoto-based Nintendo Co, which makes the Wii video game player.
“Compared with last year, there will be growth in the fourth quarter,” Wu said.
Macronix generated NT$5.59 billion in revenues in the fourth quarter of last year.
Gross margin is expected to fall to between 42 percent and 44 percent, from 46 percent in the third quarter, Macronix said.
Factory use would also decline to between 88 percent and 90 percent from 100 percent last quarter.
Macronix is planning to spend NT$1.4 billion on new equipment this year and is seeking potential partners to operate a 12-inch plant.
Macronix shares declined 2.65 percent to NT$16.55 yesterday.
Separately, DRAMeXchange Technology Inc (集邦科技), operator of Asia’s biggest spot market for semiconductors, confirmed yesterday that it sold a 10 percent stake to United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s second-largest contract chipmaker.
In a press release, the research institute’s chairman, Liu Chung-laung (劉炯朗), said the 10 percent stake was sold to a UMC venture capital subsidiary, adding that the deal showed that the market intelligence company had gained increased attention.
“Intelligence and culture are both intangible assets, which can be brought to their full potential through incisive analysis from various perspectives,” Liu said.
Currently, the company commands four major research departments, providing market information and research in such fields as DRAM, NAND flash memory, PCs, display panels, light-emitting diodes (LED) and green energy.
The statement said 80 percent of DRAMeXchange’s revenue comes from analysis and strategic consulting it provides to leading global enterprises, such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg, Intel Corp, Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications. The company has completed the first-phase computing power buildup at the data center in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), providing 15 megawatts of capacity to support its research and development (R&D) capabilities, despite an industrywide shortage of key components, MediaTek said. Supply constraints have plagued a wide range of key components, including memory chips, solid-state drives, power supply units and central
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
RSS