MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s biggest mobile phone chipmaker, yesterday drastically lowered its sales outlook for the fourth quarter, saying demand had weakened faster than expected as the global economic slowdown spread to emerging markets.
This is the latest in a slew of outlook adjustments by Taiwanese semiconductor companies this week, including the world’s top contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電).
On Monday, TSMC cut its fourth-quarter revenue target by more than 8 percent to between NT$63 billion (US$1.88 billion) and NT$65 billion. The chipmaker also lowered its expectation for fourth-quarter gross profit margin to between 30 percent and 32 percent and slashed its operating profit margin to between 17 percent and 19 percent, down 4 percentage points from its previous estimates.
In its filing to the stock exchange yesterday, MediaTek said revenue may plunge by more than 30 percent this quarter from NT$28.05 billion in the third quarter, rather than a decrease of between 9 percent and 16 percent estimated in October.
“The global financial storm has started to impact on demand in the emerging markets. End demand for all products is lower than expected,” the Hsinchu-based firm said in the filing.
MediaTek, which is also the biggest handset chip supplier in China, said its forecast for gross margin may hold steady this quarter at its third-quarter level of 54.3 percent, the filing states.
Last month, the company’s sales fell 32.6 percent month-on-month, or 7.6 percent year-on-year, to NT$6.2 billion, hitting the lowest level in nine months since February, it said in a separate filing yesterday.
In the first 11 months of the year, revenues amounted to NT$84.68 billion, up 13.8 percent from a year ago, it said.
Shares of MediaTek rose 0.26 percent to NT$195 yesterday, outperforming the benchmark index, which dropped 1.21 percent. However, the stock has plunged 40 percent this quarter from NT$325 on Sept. 30.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the