Nuvoton Technology Corp (新唐科技), a microcontroller unit (MCU) maker, yesterday said it has vague order visibility, as macroeconomic uncertainty and ongoing inventory digestion have kept most customers on the sidelines.
Nuvoton became cautious about giving its gross margin outlook due to price competition and slower-than-expected recovery, Nuvoton chairman Su Yuan-mou (蘇源茂) told an investors’ conference yesterday.
“We have to make great efforts to keep the gross margin at 40 percent this year… Market demand is recovering at a slower rate than we thought. Besides, there is a competition factor to consider,” Su said. “I will be more optimistic about next year and the year after as our Japanese subsidiary is improving its costs.”
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
Nuvoton could miss its estimate from three months ago that gross margin would hit the bottom in the first quarter, and rebound after costs reductions and new product launches.
Nuvoton saw its gross margin hold steady at 40 percent last quarter, following three quarters of decline from 44 percent in the first quarter of last year.
Nuvoton is 51 percent owned by Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電).
In response to a question about price pressure from Chinese competitors, Su said the company does not engage in the market share battle in China, as it focuses on supplying high-quality and high-performance chips — a different segment from its Chinese counterparts.
The company does not directly compete with Chinese MCU providers, as it has shifted its focus to supply MCUs used in industrial devices from consumer electronics, Su added.
The MCUs used in industrial devices and vehicles accounted for 50 percent of the company’s total revenue last quarter, up from 44 percent a quarter earlier, the company said.
New battery management ICs made at its Japanese fab would see growth, Su said, adding that MCUs used in vehicles and industrial devices would outperform chips used in consumer electronics such as smartphones and computers.
However, the company is monitoring whether the automotive supply chain would start adjusting inventory later this year as chip supply constraints have eased, Su said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS