Gudeng Precision Industrial Co Ltd (家登), the sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) pods to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), yesterday said that a rebound in demand from its major client would support sequential growth in revenue next quarter.
Gudeng, which also produces photomask boxes for chipmakers, also expects next year to be “strong” in terms of revenue, as major customers continue to significantly increase production of 5-nanometer and enhanced 7-nanometer technologies, chairman Bill Chiu (邱銘乾) told reporters.
“Demand is to pick up in the fourth quarter following a break in the third quarter,” Chiu said. “Next year should be a better period than this year, as customers are rapidly expanding capacity.”
Photo: Hung You-fang, Taipei Times
Customers have discovered new markets which they had never thought of before, Chiu said, and the more companies that adopt EUV technology, the more EUV pods would be adopted.
In response to rising customer demand, Gudeng has begun expanding its capacity in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城) after completing a capacity expansion in Tainan.
The company expects its capacity to increase to 2,000 EUV pods per month after it completes a new plant in 2022.
Gudeng also supplies EUV pods to Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, sources said.
TSMC, Intel and Samsung are among the very few chipmakers in the world that have the technological capability to advance their technologies with the assistance of EUV tools from ASML Holding NV, the sole supplier of EUV tools.
The use of photomasks and EUV pods is expected to more than double when chipmakers advance to next-generation technologies.
Meanwhile, Gudeng is diversifying by supplying aircraft landing gear barrels to Airbus SE and Boeing Co.
Shipments of aircraft landing gear barrels are to grow significantly from the third quarter next year, Gudeng said.
Gudeng posted combined revenue of NT$385.72 million (US$13.18 million) in July and last month, an indication that this quarter’s revenue would be far less than the NT$775.76 million recorded in the second quarter.
Gudeng generated more than 70 percent of its revenue from semiconductor-related products, with about 70 percent of that coming from photomask boxes, the company said.
The company said that it expects to book asset disposal income of NT$660 million by selling a plot of land in Tainan to TSMC this quarter at the earliest.
Gudeng shares yesterday fell 2.49 percent to close at NT$255, underperforming the TPEX’s decline of 1.98 percent.
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