MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s biggest handset chip designer, yesterday said last month’s sales rose to the second-highest level this year, boosting its third-quarter revenue to hit a record.
However, the company could see revenue decline sequentially this quarter due to seasonal slowdown and a high base effect, analysts said.
The company’s consolidated sales grew 2.3 percent to NT$13.04 billion (US$441.5 million) last month, compared with NT$12.75 billion in August, according to a company statement.
The figures represented a 18.48 percent jump from NT$11.01 billion in September last year.
In the three-month period ending last month, MediaTek said its revenue totaled NT$39 billion, up 17.2 percent from NT$33.28 billion in the previous quarter, surpassing the upper end of its revenue guidance.
Last month, the Hsinchu-based company said it expected third-quarter revenue to increase by between 5 percent and 13 percent to between NT$34.9 billion and NT$37.6 billion from the second quarter.
In addition to handset chips, MediaTek also designs TV controller and Wi-Fi connectivity chips. Currently, handset chips account for between 65 percent and 70 percent of the firm’s revenue.
The company’s latest sales data were better than Citigroup Global Market’s forecasts of a 5 percent monthly decline in sales last month and a sequential 5 percent increase from the second quarter.
For the current quarter, Citigroup predicted revenue would decline by 7 percent quarter-on-quarter, with the full-year revenue growing by 32 percent to NT$130.95 billion from last year.
The company may benefit from higher market share in both high and low-end chip markets this quarter, Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) said yesterday.
“The company’s market status is likely to remain solid this quarter and into the first half of next year, and its high-end products are likely to secure a larger market share,” Carlos Peng (彭國維), an analyst at Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧), said in a note to clients.
Peng’s confidence comes as Chinese chip designer Spreadtrum Communications Inc (展訊通信) has reportedly failed to bring its TD-SCDMA (time division synchronous code division multiple access) dual-core “Tiger” chips to the low-end smartphone market as scheduled, while US-based Qualcomm Inc is facing strong competition from MediaTek’s octa-core MT6592 chip in the high-end segment.
“We believe the company’s revenue for this quarter will only decline by 5 percent to 8 percent from last quarter, which is lower than market consensus of a sequential decrease of 7 percent to 10 percent,” Peng said.
Shares in MediaTek fell 1.71 percent to close at NT$373 yesterday in Taipei, outpacing the broader market, which dropped 0.37 percent.
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