Some of Taiwan’s integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing service providers are likely to see a quarterly sales drop in the current quarter due to the slow season effects, market analysts said.
In the three-month period ending in March, the lowest shipments by these companies are likely to be next month, as the Lunar New Year holiday from Jan. 30 to Feb. 4 means fewer working days that month, analysts said.
However, other companies, particularly in the memory chip packaging and testing sector, could submit rush orders, which would offset the unfavorable conditions in the first quarter, as demand for mobile devices remains strong, analysts said.
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光), the world’s largest IC packaging and testing services provider, is expected to see its consolidated sales for the first quarter fall from 18 to 22 percent sequentialy, after reporting a quarterly high in its consolidated sales for the fourth quarter of last year, Barclays Capital said in a recent research note.
In the October to December period, ASE’s consolidated sales rose 13.1 percent from the previous quarter to a fresh high of NT$64.16 billion (US$2.14 billion).
Analysts said ASE’s first-quarter sales could also be affected by the relatively high comparison base in the fourth quarter.
ASE is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter results at an investor conference on Feb. 7. The market is anticipating that the company will assess the impact of a partial shutdown of one of its plants in Greater Kaohsiung on Dec. 20 due to pollution problems.
Many investors fear that ASE’s IC design clients would shift their orders to other service providers to avoid supply disruptions as a result of the ASE plant shutdown.
Siliconware Precision Industries Co (Spil, 矽品精密) is one of the firms that could benefit from such a shift, analysts said, giving a more upbeat outlook for its first quarter sales.
Local handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) has cut its orders to ASE in favor of Spil, and such rush orders could help offset the slow season effects, local media reports said.
In the fourth quarter of last year, Spil posted NT$18.84 billion in consolidated sales, the highest in its history, down 1.3 percent from the third quarter. The company has scheduled an investor conference for Jan. 27 to report its full fourth-quarter results.
Analysts said Powertech Technology Inc (力成) is one of the memory chip packaging and testing firms that is likely to ride the wave of a booming smartphone market and report stable sales data for the first quarter.
Powertech, which is scheduled to release its full fourth-quarter results on Feb. 14, reported NT$9.60 billion in consolidated sales for the quarter, up by a quarterly 2.6 percent.
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