Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技), the nation’s top computer memory chipmaker, yesterday said third-quarter net income fell to NT$1.94 billion (US$62.81 million) as prices plunged on slack PC demand.
That figure did not include gains from Rexchip Electronics Inc (瑞晶電子), Powerchip’s local PC memory venture with Elpida Memory Inc, the biggest memory chipmaker in Japan.
“The third quarter [net profits excluding gains from Rexchip] will certainly be lower than the second quarter, as prices have fallen significantly,” company spokesman Eric Tang (譚仲民) said by telephone.
few details
Powerchip did not provide financial details for comparison. Major rival Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) is still suffering losses because of slow capacity expansion as it switches to cost-efficient technologies. Nanya Technology is set to release third quarter finanical results tomorrow.
Looking ahead, Tang said the visibility for the current quarter was limited. The chipmaker was monitoring whether there would be sufficient PC demand to reverse the price decline this quarter, he said.
slow expansion
Taipei-based research firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) expects mainstream PC memory chip prices to drop to below US$1.5 per unit on the spot market as lukewarm PC recovery would be unable to absorb an increase in chip supply.
Chip prices declined 0.11 percent to US$1.72 per unit yesterday, according to TrendForce. The research firm expects chip prices to bottom out at the end of the first quarter of next year at the earliest, helped by the Lunar New Year holiday shopping season in China.
During the quarter ending Sept. 30, gross profit reached NT$4.34 billion with gross margin at 17.35 percent, a company statement said.
PC consumption
In the first three quarters, Powerchip made NT$12.24 billion in net profit as the global economic recovery stimulated demand for PCs and related products, which was an improvement on losses of NT$22.32 billion a year earlier.
Revenue soared to NT$67.54 billion in the first nine months of this year, compared with NT$16.04 billion during the same period last year.
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