Chip testing interface supplier WinWay Technology Co (穎崴) yesterday said it aims to grow revenue by a double-digit percentage this year on the back of strong demand for advanced packaging and testing services used in artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.
The growing popularity of AI applications has helped drive demand for WinWay’s services, company chairman Mark Wang (王嘉煌) told a news conference in Taipei, adding that he remains cautiously optimistic about the company’s revenue prospects in the second half of the year.
“Based on the information we collected, we believe AI chip testing surface demand would still be tremendous in the second half of this year. We are seeing more rush orders coming in,” Wang said.
Photo: CNA
Aside from rapid AI proliferation, a major chip packaging technology upgrade by tier-one customers would also help stimulate demand at the end of this year for WinWay’s advanced burn-in testing services, or functional burn-in testing, he said.
The company has obtained numerous new design projects and would start shipping products to customers in the third or fourth quarter, he said.
WinWay’s confidence in growing its full-year revenue by a double-digit percentage came as revenue in the first five months surged 81.33 percent year-on-year to NT$3.44 billion (US$117.95 million), an all-time high, attributable to solid demand for coaxial sockets and probe cards amid robust demand for AI and HPC applications, the Kaohsiung-based company said.
AI and HPC applications are expected to contribute more than 50 percent to the company’s revenue by the end of this year, compared with 42 percent in the first five months, Wang said.
Seven-nanometer process technology and more advanced technologies accounted for 87 percent of the company’s total revenue during the five-month period, WinWay said.
However, the company remains vigilant about the US’s tariff policy, foreign exchange volatility and geopolitical conflicts, as it expects to book foreign exchange losses for the current quarter, given that as much as 70 percent of its revenue is booked in US dollars, it said.
The New Taiwan dollar has appreciated more than 12 percent against the US dollar this year.
The company has no plans to set up production lines in the US, as a majority of its products are shipped using airlines, given their small size, Wang said.
Although it sees no imminent need to launch production facilities in the US, the company plans to set up a repair center in Arizona in the second half of next year at the earliest, he said.
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