Taiwanese chip designers facing lukewarm season earlier

Taipei, Dec. 9, 2003 (CENS)--Leading Taiwanese chip designers saw their November revenues decline from the October levels, suggesting that the lukewarm season for the business has arrived earlier than expected.

MediaTek Inc., Taiwan's largest supplier of storage-media chips, reported November revenue of NT$3.7 billion (US$109.5 million at US$1:NT$34), a 5.99% drop from October's NT$3.9 billion (US$116 million) although surging 26.45% from one year earlier. In the first eleven months, the company scored total revenue of NT$34.8 billion (US$1.02 billion), a 31.75% gain from the same period of last year.

The company's monthly revenue began to decline after peaking at NT$4.3 billion (US$127.7 million) in September.

Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Raked in revenue of NT$858 million (US$25 million) in November, dropping 10.68% from October and edged down 0.61% from the same month of last year. Its Jan.-Nov. revenue inched up 2.19% from the same period of last year, to NT$8.6 billion (US$255 million).

VIA Technologies Inc. raked in November revenue of NT$1.6 billion (US$48.7 million), down 16% from one month earlier and 28.7% from one year earlier. The company reported total revenue of NT$18.8 billion (US$554 million) in the first eleven months, shrinking 19% from the comparable period of last year. The company attributed November revenue reduction mostly to shipment slowdown at motherboard suppliers and its undercutting strategy with PT800 chipsets.

Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS), VIA's nearest rival in computer chipset arena, reported November revenue of NT$1.4 billion (US$41.6 million), contracting 9.5% from the month earlier and 21.5% from the like period last year. The company estimated its fourth-quarter revenue to remain profitable. However, institutional investors expected the company to revise downward operation results some time soon as its earnings in the first three quarters were behind goals.

Novatek Microelectronics Corp., Ltd. Raked in November revenue of NT$1.06 billion (US$31.2 million), a decline from October's NT$1.1 billion (US$32.3 million) but a 55.96% gain from the same period of last year. Overall, the company reaped total revenue of NT$9.8 billion (US$288 million) in the first 11 months of the year, surging 62.15% from the year-earlier period.

Weltrend Semiconductor Inc. garnered November revenue of NT$130 million (US$3.8 million), a 13% loss from the month earlier and a 16% contraction from the same period of last year. In the first eleven months, the company scored total revenue of NT$1.3 billion (US$40.7 million), increasing 3.66% from the same period of last year. The company attributed its November revenue shrinkage to business slowdown of game consoles. In the first 10 months this year, the company reported pretax earnings of NT$244 million (US$7.1 million) and after-tax earnings of NT$276 million (US$8.1 million).

Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd. Was the only one Taiwanese chip designer to enjoy revenue growth in November. Its November revenue was 1.2 billion (US$37 million), representing a 5% gain from October and an 80.91% surge from the comparable month last year. In the Jan.-Nov. period, the company had total revenue of NT$9.8 billion (US$288 million), increasing 23.9% from the same period of last year.

The company pointed out that the lucrative media chips constituted the majority of its November revenue, accounting for 66.83%. Besides, its royalty charges were higher last month than in October. Both were major factors behind the growth of the company's November revenue.