Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進), a supplier of display driver ICs and power management chips, expects its revenue next year to surpass the 12 percent annual rate estimated for the global foundry sector, driven by robust demand for chips used in electric vehicles (EVs) and 5G smartphones.
To manage rising chip demand, Vanguard increased its capital expenditure for this year to between NT$8.5 billion and NT$9 billion (US$305.21 million and US$323.16 million), from NT$8.5 billion estimated three months ago.
The expenditure increase would boost capacity slightly this year and about 8 percent next year, it said.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
The chipmaker is considering investing in a new 12-inch fab, it said, adding that a small percentage of the chips that are being made at 8-inch fabs would be produced at 12-inch fabs in the next few years because of cost efficiency.
Vanguard operates four 8-inch fabs and is constructing a fifth one.
“Overall, our customers continue to show robust demand for our foundry services. With our current order visibility, we expect factory utilization to remain high throughout the first half of 2022,” Vanguard chairman Fang Leuh (方略) told an investors’ teleconference.
“We hold a positive outlook on next year,” Fang said. “We will outperform the estimated growth in the global foundry sector thanks to growth momentum coming from all segments.”
IC Insights forecast that the global foundry sector would see compound annual growth of 12.2 percent in the five-year period to 2025.
EVs and 5G smartphones are to be the main growth drivers, Vanguard said, due to higher market penetration and the higher number of semiconductors needed.
Replacement demand would also fuel robust demand for commercial laptops next year, the chipmaker said.
Growth momentum this quarter continues to be robust, Vanguard said, adding that growth did not slacken when it shifted to supply driver ICs for high-resolution 4K and 8K TV panels from low-end 50-inch TV panels.
Revenue this quarter is expected to increase 2.56 to 6.93 percent to between NT$12.3 billion and NT$12.7 billion, which would be another record quarter, Fang said.
Gross margin this quarter is expected to be 45.5 to 47.5 percent, compared with 45.8 percent last quarter, the company said.
Vanguard expects shipments of driver ICs used in mobile phones and other consumer electronics panels to show sequential growth this quarter.
Net profit in the three months to September increased to a record NT$3.29 billion, more than doubling the NT$1.53 billion of a year earlier and representing quarterly growth of 26.4 percent from NT$2.6 billion.
Earnings per share last quarter rose to NT$1.99, up from NT$0.93 a year earlier and NT$1.53 in the prior quarter.
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