Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest supplier of NOR flash memory chips, on Tuesday said that revenue would grow every quarter throughout the remainder of this year, as customers prioritize securing capacity amid a persistent chip shortage.
The Hsinchu-based company said that its factories have been running at full capacity, and that it would be selective about chip production.
“All our customers want is to secure capacity. Pricing is not an issue anymore,” Macronix chairman Miin Wu (吳敏求) told investors. “We will produce chips that deliver better profits.”
Photo: CNA
Wu expects gross margin to improve further in the coming quarters, after first-quarter gross margin rose to 34.3 percent, from 31.3 percent a year earlier and 32.4 percent in the previous quarter, on the back of resilient demand for NOR and NAND flash memory chips.
“Demand has been showing surprisingly strong growth across the board from the computer to the communications and the automotive segments,” Macronix said.
It added that it expects “explosive growth” this year in NOR flash memory chips used in automobiles.
Chips for automobiles made up 13 percent of the company’s revenue from NOR flash memory chips in the first quarter, it said.
“As supply continues to be tight, demand from every application segment looks quite brisk. I am amazed by our strong book-to-bill ratio,” Wu said, adding that the chip shortage would carry into next year and the company is evaluating how to expand capacity to its maximum.
Net profit in the second half of this year is likely to reach the NT$4.59 billion (US$164.22 million) earned in the second half of 2017, the company said.
Macronix reported that first-quarter net profit plunged 25 percent to NT$916 million from NT$1.22 billion in the same period last year, as the company increased operating expenses by 20 percent to research and develop new 3D NAND flash memory chips.
On a quarterly basis, net profit dipped 21 percent from NT$1.16 billion.
The company said that it shipped a record number of NOR flash memory chips last quarter, which boosted its revenue to NT$9.63 billion, the highest for a first quarter in the company’s history.
NOR flash memory chips accounted for 52 percent of the company’s total revenue in the first quarter.
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