GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) yesterday said it is positive about this year, citing robust demand for advanced 12-inch wafers and a pickup in smaller-diameter wafers, as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom pushes up semiconductor content in end products.
The silicon wafer supplier said revenue would be flat or grow slightly this year after sliding 3.24 percent last year to NT$60.6 billion (US$1.91 billion).
“Overall, with 12-inch advanced wafers fully utilized, small diameter demand recovering and high value-added products — such as silicon-on-insulator wafers, gallium nitride and silicon carbide — continuing to advance, GlobalWafers sees a stronger product mix and demand visibility,” company chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said at an earnings conference.
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A recovery in demand for 8-inch and 6-inch wafers is boosting factory utilization rate by 10 to 15 percentage points this quarter, the company said.
In the face of strong demand for AI processors, the shortage of memory chips and the outbreak of the Iran war, some customers in the US and other regions have requested more wafer supply, GlobalWafers said.
The company is in discussion with customers about potential capacity expansion at its new factory in Texas, Hsu said.
The company plans to next quarter ramp up the phase-one facility of the factory, which has a capacity of 300,000 wafers a month, she said.
Wafer prices have shown signs of recovery since last quarter due to rush orders, but the improvement is uneven, with advanced wafers enjoying much better price increases, while others remain flat, she said.
The conflict in the Middle East has added extra uncertainty to end market demand, GlobalWafers said.
“Many of our customers are relatively conservative,” Hsu said. “They do not know how long the geopolitical issue would last, and how much the oil price and energy cost would fluctuate.”
GlobalWafers is closely monitoring the market situation and trying to identify whether the recent order increases are due to inventory replenishment demand or “real demand” driven by a recovery, Hsu said.
The company said it expects capital expenditure this year to be lower than last year’s NT$31.94 billion, but depreciation costs would continue to rise until next year from NT$8.93 billion last year.
After three years of global expansions and capacity deployment, the company’s focus has shifted from “construction” to “execution,” Hsu said.
GlobalWafers’ net profit last quarter reached NT$2.21 billion, the best in six quarters and up 12 percent from NT$1.97 billion the previous quarter.
That represented a 364.3 percent year-on-year jump from NT$475 million.
Gross margin rose to 25.7 percent last quarter from 18.4 percent in the previous quarter — a decline from 30.1 percent a year earlier.
Overall profit last year dipped 25.7 percent to NT$7.31 billion, down from NT$9.84 billion in 2024.
Earnings per share dropped to NT$15.29 from NT$21.06.
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