Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋) on Thursday said its revenue for last month was its highest ever thanks to bullish demand for its vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) components.
Semiconductor-based laser diodes, which are a major lighting source for 3D sensing, make up the components.
Believed to be one of Apple Inc’s primary suppliers for its iPhone X TrueDepth front-facing camera system, California-based Lumentum Holdings Inc is one of the Linkou (林口), Taoyuan County-based company’s clients.
Along with stable contribution from radio frequency (RF)-related products, consolidated revenue last month increased 2.58 percent month-on-month to NT$1.94 billion (US$65.71 million), up 79.6 percent from a year earlier, Win Semiconductors said in a statement.
The company is the world’s leading gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer foundry services provider for RF chips and monolithic microwave chips.
Its main products include power amplifier (PA) chips, Wi-Fi-linked components and applications related to infrastructure, such as those for base stations, optical fiber networks, satellite communications and national defense.
The company’s revenue and gross margin would likely benefit from a multi-year 3D sensing demand, given a higher 3D sensing adoption by Android-based smartphones and a better margin prospect after flattening of the learning curve, analysts said.
“We expect Win Semi’s 3D sensing revenue to grow on Android smartphones’ adoption and key smartphone customer new models in 2018, and wider adoption into gaming console, AR/VR devices, and security systems in the mid to long-term,” Macquarie Capital Ltd said in a note on Dec. 1. “Win Semi’s leading technology, mass production track record, and close collaboration with key customers should keep it in leading position in the market.”
The company’s local peers — Advanced Wireless Semiconductor Co (宏捷) and Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co (全新), one of the top three GaAs epitaxial wafer manufacturers in the world — also reported better-than-expected sales for last month.
Advanced Wireless Semiconductor registered revenue last month of NT$140 million, its highest in six months, a 18.94 percent increase month-on-month and 0.36 percent year-on-year.
Visual Photonics posted NT$195 million in revenue, down 2.83 percent from November, but up 56.18 percent from December 2016.
The three firms are considered to be among the major “Apple concept stocks” in Taiwan and are expected to report strong sales this quarter, considering the growing demand for VCSEL components and the deployment of 5G infrastructure, analysts said.
Win Semiconductors reported earnings of NT$17.06 billion for the whole of last year, up 25.38 percent from 2016; Visual Photonics’revenue totaled NT$2.14 billion, representing an annual fall of 2.09 percent; while Advanced Wireless Semiconductor’s sales during the same period decreased 26.9 percent year-on-year to NT$1.66 billion.
In Taipei trading on Friday, Win Semiconductors shares declined 0.16 percent to close at NT$303, while Advanced Wireless Semiconductor shares rose 0.55 percent at NT$73.6 and Visual Photonics shares increased 1.12 percent to NT$99, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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