ChipMOS Technologies Inc (南茂科技), a display driver IC and memorychip tester and packager, yesterday forecast significant revenue growth for this year as it plans to raise its prices again to reflect the higher cost of copper and other raw materials following strong semiconductor demand.
The Hsinchu-based firm has raised its prices an average of 5 to 8 percent since the fourth quarter of last year, it said, adding that the increases were also due to a lack of testing and packaging capacity.
Strong demand for ChipMOS’ services is continuing from last quarter, leading the company to expect revenue this year to increase 15 to 20 percent from NT$23.01 billion (US$823.2 million) last year.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
In March, ChipMOS had forecast double-digit percentage growth for this year.
As the tightness in the semiconductor supply chain is to continue for an unspecified period, ChipMOS said that demand for its products continues to be robust this quarter.
ChipMOS attributed the gap between supply and demand to the global digital transformation.
“The firm is installing high-end manufacturing equipment and all of the new facilities are booked, so we expect revenue to increase every quarter for the rest of the year,” ChipMOS chairman Cheng Chih-chieh (鄭世杰) told a teleconference yesterday.
“The firm has increased its inventory to three months of stock to handle rising demand,” Cheng said.
ChipMOS also expects its bottom line to further improve this year, thanks to the easing of its financial responsibility in a joint venture with Tsinghua Unigroup (清華紫光).
Last quarter, Unimos Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co Ltd (紫光宏茂) returned to the black, so it might distribute a higher cash dividend next year, compared with NT$2.2 per share proposed for this year, Cheng said.
Cheng said that the firm has a rosy outlook for this quarter, with revenue expected to grow sequentially at a high single-digit percentage from a record NT$6.47 billion last quarter.
The company’s factory utilization rate this quarter should reach a high level due to increased demand for testing and packaging services for DRAM, flash memory and display driver chips, Cheng said.
The firm’s display driver IC packaging service, which accounted for about 47 percent of its first-quarter revenue, would still be used at full capacity this quarter, while the utilization rate of its memorychip packaging service would increase from 95 percent last quarter, he said.
“Higher average sales prices will also boost profits,” Cheng said.
In the January-to-March quarter, the company posted its best net profit in seven quarters at NT$959.1 million, surging 34.6 percent annually from NT$712.7 million and up 40.4 percent quarterly from NT$686.4 million.
Earnings per share increased to NT$1.32, compared with NT$0.98 a year ago and NT$0.94 in the previous quarter.
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is expected to step down from her role before her eight-year term ends in October next year, the Financial Times reported. Lagarde wants to leave before the French presidential election in April next year, which would allow French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to find her replacement together, the report said, citing an unidentified person familiar with her thoughts on the matter. It is not clear yet when she might exit, the report said. “President Lagarde is totally focused on her mission and has not taken any decision regarding the end of
French President Emmanuel Macron told a global artificial intelligence (AI) summit in India yesterday he was determined to ensure safe oversight of the fast-evolving technology. The EU has led the way for global regulation with its Artificial Intelligence Act, which was adopted in 2024 and is coming into force in phases. “We are determined to continue to shape the rules of the game... with our allies such as India,” Macron said in New Delhi. “Europe is not blindly focused on regulation — Europe is a space for innovation and investment, but it is a safe space.” The AI Impact Summit is the fourth
CONFUSION: Taiwan, Japan and other big exporters are cautiously monitoring the situation, while analysts said more Trump responses ate likely after his loss in court US trading partners in Asia started weighing fresh uncertainties yesterday after President Donald Trump vowed to impose a new tariff on imports, hours after the Supreme Court struck down many of the sweeping levies he used to launch a global trade war. The court’s ruling invalidated a number of tariffs that the Trump administration had imposed on Asian export powerhouses from China and South Korea to Japan and Taiwan, the world’s largest chip maker and a key player in tech supply chains. Within hours, Trump said he would impose a new 10 percent duty on US imports from all countries starting on
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE: The initiative is aimed at protecting semiconductor supply chain resilience to reduce dependence on China-dominated manufacturing hubs India yesterday joined a US-led initiative to strengthen technology cooperation among strategic allies in a move that underscores the nations’ warming ties after a brief strain over New Delhi’s unabated purchase of discounted Russian oil. The decision aligns India closely with Washington’s efforts to build secure supply chains for semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and critical technologies at a time when geopolitical competition with China is intensifying. It also signals a reset in relations following friction over energy trade and tariffs. Nations that have joined the Pax Silica framework include Japan, South Korea, the UK and Israel. “Pax Silica will be a group of nations
RSS