Fingerprint sensor supplier Egis Technology Inc (神盾) expects revenue this quarter to continue declining quarter-on-quarter, as stagnant smartphone sales are still curbing demand for chips, a company executive said yesterday.
Wafer supply constraints also remain an issue and could continue to weigh on the company’s business this year, Egis said.
The company said that it was unable to fulfill some rush orders due to a widespread shortage of key components in the second half of last year.
Photo: Vanessa Cho, Taipei Times
Egis sources 8-inch wafers from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co.
The company said that it is evaluating the possibility of adding a third supplier.
Egis would also begin sourcing 12-inch wafers this year, but it will take time for customers to adopt the new chips, it said.
“The [COVID-19] pandemic has significantly affected the company,” Egis chief financial officer George Chang (張家麒) told a videoconference. “We still cannot scale up revenue in the first quarter. It is likely to decline annually.”
On the demand side, order visibility is vague due to supply chain chaos, Chang said.
Short supply of components used in smartphones such as power management ICs could also defer shipments, he said.
Egis, which counts Samsung as one of its major clients, saw revenue drop 40 percent year-on-year to NT$1.19 billion (US$42.05 million) last quarter, the lowest in two-and-a-half years.
Total revenue last year shrank 15 percent to NT$6.22 billion, missing the company’s guidance of double-digit percentage growth as the pandemic dented smartphone demand.
The company reported its weakest quarterly net profit in two years last quarter at NT$4.4 million. Net profit nosedived from NT$203.07 million a year earlier.
Gross margin fell to 38 percent last quarter from 46 percent a year earlier, as Egis shipped more capacitive fingerprint sensors than optical fingerprint sensors, which have a higher margin.
Total net profit last year contracted 26.68 percent to NT$632.56 million, compared with NT$862.68 million a year earlier. Earnings per share tumbled to NT$9.1 from NT$12.6 in 2019.
To regain revenue growth, Egis is expanding its product portfolio to supply versatile chips used in smartphones, including lower-priced chips, Chang said.
The company is developing new chips, including 3D time-of-flight (TOF) sensors, which are used for facial recognition in smartphones, Egis chairman Steve Ro (羅森洲) said on Thursday last week.
Egis hopes to capture early business opportunities from Android smartphone makers, who are likely to follow Apple Inc in using TOF technology. Apple’s iPhone 12 Max is equipped with a TOF sensor.
Egis is also developing new chips used in “true wireless” earphones, Lo said.
SETBACK: Apple’s India iPhone push has been disrupted after Foxconn recalled hundreds of Chinese engineers, amid Beijing’s attempts to curb tech transfers Apple Inc assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in India, the latest setback for the iPhone maker’s push to rapidly expand in the country. The extraction of Chinese workers from the factory of Yuzhan Technology (India) Private Ltd, a Hon Hai component unit, in southern Tamil Nadu state, is the second such move in a few months. The company has started flying in Taiwanese engineers to replace staff leaving, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named, as the
The prices of gasoline and diesel at domestic fuel stations are to rise NT$0.1 and NT$0.4 per liter this week respectively, after international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$27.3, NT$28.8 and NT$30.8 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$26.2 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26 at Formosa pumps, they said. The announcements came after international crude oil prices
SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) is weighing whether to add a life insurance business to its portfolio, but would tread cautiously after completing three acquisitions in quick succession, president Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said yesterday. “We are carefully considering whether life insurance should play a role in SinoPac’s business map,” Chu told reporters ahead of an earnings conference. “Our priority is to ensure the success of the deals we have already made, even though we are tracking some possible targets.” Local media have reported that Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽), which is seeking buyers amid financial strains, has invited three financial
CAUTION: Right now, artificial intelligence runs on faith, not productivity and eventually, the risk of a bubble will emerge,’ TIER economist Gordon Sun said Taiwanese manufacturers turned more optimistic last month, ending a five-month streak of declining sentiment as concerns over US tariffs, currency volatility and China’s overcapacity began to ease, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said yesterday. The manufacturing business confidence index rose 1.17 points from June to 86.8, its first rebound since February. TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) attributed the uptick to fading trade uncertainties, a steadier New Taiwan dollar and reduced competitive pressure from Chinese producers. Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is unlikely to face significant damage from Washington’s ongoing probe into semiconductors, given the US’ reliance on Taiwanese chips to power artificial
RSS