Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s largest computer memory chipmaker, yesterday posted its first positive quarterly earnings in 10 quarters as stronger-than-expected PC sales boosted memory chip prices.
Last quarter, Nanya Technology earned NT$211 million (US$6.6 million) after average selling prices spiked 44 percent quarter-on-quarter, the Taoyuan-based chipmaker said in a company statement.
During the period, shipments only edged up 2 percent, the company said.
It was the company’s first profitable quarter since the first quarter of 2007.
For the full year, Nanya posted a loss of NT$20.74 billion as the global economic woes exacerbated prolonged industrial downturn driven by overcapacity. The results were an improvement from losses of NT$36.73 billion in 2008.
“The results are quite good and industry prospects look good too, which may trigger a new wave of upward [earnings] revisions,” said Rick Hsu (徐稦成), semiconductor industry analyst at Nomura Securities Co Ltd’s Taipei branch.
Hsu, however, was cautious about putting Nanya Technology on his “buy” list, as the stock is relatively expensive. He has a “reduce” rating on the company.
Sending more positive messages, Nanya Technology also expects a brief price correction for memory chips, or dynamic random access memory (DRAM), in the first three months of this year on oversupply.
“Our customers are forecasting a better-than-expected business environment during the second half,” Nanya Technology spokesman Pai Pei-lin (白培霖) said. “We are seeing more multinational corporations starting to evaluate replacing their PCs.”
Market researcher Gartner is forecasting that PC shipments will increase 12.6 percent this year to 336.6 million units from 306 million units last year.
Increasing demand may help DRAM prices rebound from the second quarter and extend the upturn into the second half on potential supply constraints, driving the average price higher than this year’s US$2 per unit, Pai said.
To keep up with demand, Nanya Technology plans to boost capital spending by 37 percent to more than NT$20 billion and to speed up migration to new-generation 50-nanometer and 42-nanometer technologies, which would allow the chipmaker to make more chips at lower cost. With this new budget, the firm expects output to grow 45 percent year-on-year.
Last year, Nanya Technology spent NT$14.6 billion on new equipment.
In related news, Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) is also planning to dramatically increase its capital spending this year to NT$52 billion from an earlier estimate of NT$42 billion, compared with last year’s NT$13.2 billion.
Inotera is a joint venture between Nanya Technology and US memory company Micron Technology Inc.
Yesterday, Inotera also said it returned to profit last quarter after two years of losses.
Inotera made NT$475 million in net profit in the final quarter of last year. The company, however, still booked a NT$11.48 billion loss for the whole of last year.
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), the nation’s No. 2 DRAM maker, yesterday said it had swung into profit in the fourth quarter, making more than NT$1.6 billion in net income, helped by improving chip prices.
Rexchip Electronics Corp (瑞晶電子), a joint venture between Powerchip and Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc, also earned NT$3.4 billion, Powerchip said in a statement.
To enhance cost competitiveness, Powerchip said it planned to join forces with Elpida and Rexchip to buy new equipment to upgrade from 65-nanometer technology to 45-nanometer technology during the second half of this year.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
Protectionism: US trade chief Katherine Tai said the hikes would help to counter unfair trade practices from China, while boosting domestic clean energy investments US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) defended stiff tariff hikes against countries such as China, saying that paired with investment, they were a “legitimate and constructive” tool for reinvigorating domestic industries. Tai’s comments come a week after sharp tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), EV batteries and solar cells took effect — with levies down the line on other products also recently finalized. The latest moves targeting US$18 billion in Chinese goods come weeks before next month’s US presidential election, with Democrats and Republicans pushing a hard line on China as competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies. In an interview on Thursday
RSS