DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday posted the weakest monthly revenue in about one-and-a-half years as uncertainty over the US-China trade dispute and excess inventory deterred demand.
Nanya’s revenue contracted 11.82 percent to NT$4.26 billion (US$138.27 million) last month from NT$4.83 billion in December and hit its lowest level since June last year.
Compared with a year earlier, revenue plunged 30.73 percent from NT$6.15 billion.
The decline came as chip prices plunged by 14 to 16 percent last month from the previous month, Nanya said.
“Pricing pressure last month was worse than our guidance. Demand was softer than expected. Customers were conservative about orders,” Joseph Wu (吳志祥), a deputy spokesman of the company, said by telephone.
Shipments rebounded by 4 to 6 percent sequentially last month and the company expects shipments to be flat or rise slightly this quarter from last quarter, Wu said.
The company last month said that the industry had entered a downturn last quarter and would remain in the doldrums this quarter and possibly next.
The downbeat forecast reflected broader weakness in the global semiconductor industry, which might see a low-single-digit percentage decline in revenue this year from US$470 billion last year, trade group SEMI forecast, citing a severe correction in memorychip manufacturing.
The company attributed the sluggish demand to the US-China trade dispute and supply constraints at microprocessor manufacturer Intel Corp.
Weak end demand in smartphones and cryptocurrency mining activities were also unfavorable factors, it said.
Meanwhile, memorychip maker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) said that revenue climbed 5.01 percent to NT$3.88 billion last month, compared with NT$3.69 billion in the previous month, but dropped 6.49 percent from NT$4.15 billion a year ago.
Winbond president Chan Tung-yi (詹東義) on Jan. 31 said that chip prices would be relatively stable this quarter after falling by a low-single-digit percentage last quarter.
Overall memory demand was healthy, given strong growth in chip consumption in smartphones, PCs and other electronics, he said.
Chunghwa Precision Test Tech Co (中華精測), which provides probe card testing services for semiconductors, posted revenue of NT$253 million last month, up 17.29 percent from NT$215 million in December and 1.72 percent from NT$248 million a year earlier.
The company is scheduled to hold an investors’ conference on Thursday to disclose its financial results for last quarter and its business outlook for this quarter.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
Arm Holdings PLC approached Intel Corp about potentially buying the ailing chipmaker’s product division, only to be told that the business is not for sale, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. In the high-level inquiry, Arm did not express interest in Intel’s manufacturing operations, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. Intel has two main units: A product group that sells chips for personal computers, servers and networking equipment, and another that operates its factories. Representatives for Arm and Intel declined to comment. Intel, once the world’s largest chipmaker, has become the
RSS