More revenues, more money, more R&D in GaAs...

GaAs IC firms look to strong growth in 2H15

Julian Ho, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Tuesday 19 May 2015]

GaAs IC foundries Win Semiconductors and Advanced Wireless Semiconductor Company (AWSC), and GaAs epi-wafer supplier Visual Photonics Epitaxy Company (VPEC) are set to report significant revenue growth for the second half of 2015, according to market observers.

In addition to a seasonal pick-up in demand for smartphones, the rising penetration rate of 4G LTE models will play another contributing factor to GaAs IC suppliers' revenue growth in the second half of 2015, said the sources.

Win Semi has reported consolidated revenues of NT$2.81 billion (US$90 million) for the first quarter of 2015, up 3% sequentially and 68% on year. Gross margin for the quarter climbed to a record high of 37.9%.

Win Semi saw its cumulative 2015 revenues through April increase 64.3% from a year earlier to NT$3.85 billion.

AWSC generated revenues of NT$1.02 billion in the first quarter of 2015, with gross margin rising 4.05pp on quarter to 33.13%. The company also swung to net profits of NT$236 million or NT$1.73 a share, from losses during the same period in 2014.

AWSC disclosed revenues for the first four months of 2015 totaled NT$1.37 billion, up more than 200% from only NT$407 million a year ago.

VPEC posted revenues of NT$524 million in the first quarter of 2015, up 39.5% on year, with gross margin up 7.07pp to 39.02%. VPEC's accumulated revenues from January through April came to NT$724 million, rising 34.2% from the same period in 2014.