AblePrint Technology Co (APT, 印能科技), which specializes in key equipment used in advanced chip packaging technology, said it expects revenue to grow up to 30 percent annually, on the back of high demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products.
APT’s remarks came despite doubts that have been raised lately on whether the AI boom is starting to fade, but APT’s faith seems largely based on messages from customers, which includes Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Inc.
TSMC last month told its investors that AI “demand is real.”
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
This year, revenue might grow at an annual rate of 20 to 30 percent, APT said, adding that customers have not scaled back orders.
About 80 percent of its revenue came from advanced equipment, especially those used in chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology, it said.
Revenue for the Hsinchu-based company last year surged 51 percent year-on-year to NT$1.8 billion (US$54.57 million), on strong demand for advanced chip packaging.
Last year, TSMC more than doubled its CoWoS capacity, but still could not meet rapid demand from Nvidia Corp and other AI chip companies.
APT supplies burn-in ovens and related technologies to address major issues faced by chipmakers in the manufacturing processes — from void eliminations to void-free soldering and package warpage suppression.
Those issues tend to become more pronounced as more advanced and complicated technologies are adopted for new-generation chips, the company said.
Aside from Taiwan and the US, chipmakers in China have built numerous advanced chip packaging lines, with hopes of meeting AI chip demand once key technology issues are overcome, APT chairman Auger Horng (洪誌宏) told a news conference in Taipei.
US semiconductor export restrictions prevent China from accessing advanced AI chips.
The debut of DeepSeek’s (深度求索) low-cost chatbot is “exciting” news, indicating that the Chinese AI start-up is capable of offering a generative AI model that matches ChatGPT based on algorithm optimization, using software to overcome insufficient computational power, Horng said.
The success of DeepSeek might open an opportunity for China to create its own AI supply chain and to accelerate adoption of new advanced chip packaging technologies, including wafer-level packaging, chiplet and panel-level packaging technologies, he said.
That also opens a new business opportunity for APT, he added.
APT’s net profit expanded 24.5 percent to NT$607.62 million during the first three quarters of last year, compared with NT$497.9 million in the same period in 2023. Earnings per share rose to NT$30.28 from NT$29.49.
The company is tentatively set to debut on the Taipei Exchange on Feb. 26. The public offering price of APT is tentatively set at NT$1,250 a share. Taishin Securities Investment Advisory Co (台新投顧) has been hired to help underwrite APT shares.
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