Automated optical inspection equipment supplier V5 Technologies Co (倍利科技) yesterday said revenue growth is expected to accelerate this quarter and next quarter, as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom drives demand for advanced packaging inspection tools.
The growth momentum is expected to extend into the third quarter next year amid strong demand for its inspection equipment used in advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging by outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) and foundry companies, V5 Technologies said.
“Advanced packaging technology is in high demand as it helps the semiconductor industry solve an economic issue and break through a technology bottleneck,” V5 chairman Quincy Lin (林坤禧) told an earnings conference in Taipei.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
“As advanced [AI] processors can cost up to US$10 million each, factories must detect and fix mistakes throughout the production process [to maintain good yields], leading to a significant increase in demand for inspection equipment,” Lin said.
Lin’s remarks come as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker and CoWoS capacity supplier, is outsourcing CoWoS production to other firms due to strong demand, while ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s biggest OSAT company, has increased its capital expenditure to a record US$10.5 billion for this year.
A CoWoS production line with installed monthly production of 10,000 wafers requires 8 to 12 units of inspection equipment, V5 Technologies president Michael Huang (黃建中) said.
The company’s contract liabilities — which represent its obligations to deliver equipment to customers after receiving payments — jumped 21 percent to NT$993 million (US$31.09 million) last quarter from NT$820 million in the quarter before, indicating a robust revenue growth outlook, V5 Technologies said.
In the second quarter, the company made NT$735 million in revenue, up 7.5 percent from NT$684 million in the first quarter and rising 68 percent from NT$437 million a year earlier.
Net profit expanded 15 percent quarter-on-quarter and 111 percent year-on-year to a historical high of NT$236 million, with earnings per share rising to NT$5.18, from NT$4.92 in the prior quarter and NT$2.68 a year ago.
Gross margin improved to 60 percent from 59 percent in the previous quarter, but dropped from 62 percent a year ago.
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