MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday projected that revenue this quarter would dip by 7 to 13 percent to between NT$130.1 billion and NT$140 billion (US$4.38 billion and US$4.71 billion), compared with NT$150.37 billion last quarter, which it attributed to subdued front-loading demand and unfavorable foreign exchange rates.
The Hsinchu-based chip designer said that the forecast factored in the negative effects of an estimated 6 percent appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the greenback.
“As some demand has been pulled into the first half of the year and resulted in a different quarterly pattern, we expect the third quarter revenue to decline sequentially,” MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told an online investors’ conference.
Photo: Annabelle Chih, Bloomberg
Even so, MediaTek plans to roll out more new products to boost revenue growth this quarter, including a new flagship mobile phone chip, the Dimensity 9500 series, and a GB10 chip that it is codeveloping with Nvidia Corp for the US firms’ DGX Spark artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers.
The company is also working with Nvidia on C-X1, a computer hub integrated with Nvidia’s Blackwell chips.
The project would start to contribute revenue next year, Tsai said.
Investors asked about MediaTek’s progress in developing its first application-specific IC (ASIC) used in data centers amid concerns about potential delays.
MediaTek downplayed the concerns, saying that its goal is to make revenue of US$1 billion from its ASIC business next year.
“We believe our customers are doing well in their tape-out progress. In addition, we are also engaging with cloud service providers” (CSPs), Tsai said.
The global AI ASIC market is estimated at US$40 billion in the mid-to-long term, thanks to rising demand for custom chips from CSPs, he said.
MediaTek expects full-year revenue this year to expand at an annual rate of 15 percent — assuming no foreign exchange rate effects — as supply chain inventory is returning to healthy levels.
By segment, revenue from its flagship mobile phone chips would expand at an annual pace of 40 percent to US$3 billion this year and connectivity chips such as Wi-Fi 7 chips would also grow to US$3 billion, MediaTek said.
Revenue from chips used in tablets and computers would surge 80 percent annually to US$1 billion, it said.
MediaTek expects a strong NT dollar to weaken its gross margin with each 1 percent appreciation of local currency to reduce its gross margin by 0.2 percentage points.
As a result, gross margin this quarter is to drop to between 45.5 and 48.5 percent, compared with 49.1 percent last quarter, it said.
The company’s net profit in the second quarter declined 5 percent to NT$27.85 billion, compared with NT$29.33 billion in the first quarter. That represented an annual growth of 8.3 percent from NT$25.72 billion.
Earnings per share were NT$17.5, compared with NT$18.43 in the previous quarter and NT$16.19 in the second quarter last year.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS