TAIPEI: Touch-pad controller chipmaker Elan Microelectronics Corp yesterday said its revenue could fall as much as 10 percent this quarter from last quarter, as demand slips ahead of the launch of Microsoft Corp’s new operating system.
A weak euro would also hurt consumers’ purchasing power in Europe and take a toll on notebook computer sales to Elan’s customers, company spokesman Dennis Liu told investors.
“Extending the previous quarter’s weakness, revenue and gross margin will decline this quarter from the first quarter,” Liu said. “The second quarter will fall short of our expectations.”
Elan’s products are mostly related to touch functions in notebook computers, tablets and mobile phones, with notebook-related ICs the most important revenue source.
Revenue this quarter is likely to shrink by between 5 percent and 10 percent from last quarter’s NT$1.68 billion (US$54.76 million), Liu said.
Shipments of touch-pad controllers used in notebooks would fall by a single-digit percent this quarter from last quarter, as would prices for such products, he said.
Elan expects growth momentum to pick up in the second half of this year, driven by PC replacement demand after Microsoft launches its Windows 10 operating system and Intel Corp’s new Skylake processor hits the market, company chairman Yeh I-hau said.
The new laptop sensors would generate more revenue as Microsoft’s new operating system supports more sophisticated gestures on touch pads and allow the use of touch styluses at the same time, Yeh said.
Microsoft’s new operating system is likely to boost PC touch penetration to 22.7 percent this year from last year’s 17.2 percent, he said.
Elan expects to ship more high-definition on-cell touch screen sensors used in smartphones and tablets, as well as fingerprint sensors in the second half, Yeh said.
“Fingerprint [sensors] will be the major driving force in the second half,” Yeh said, adding that the new sensors for phones and notebooks would make a meaningful contribution to revenue in the second quarter of next year.
Due to foreign exchange losses, the company reported a 23 percent decline in net profit to NT$246 million in the first quarter, from NT$320 million the previous year, a 22 percent drop from the previous quarter’s NT$318 million.
Elan booked NT$9 million in non-operating loss last quarter; NT$51 million in non-operation gain the previous year and NT$46 billion in the prior quarter. Gross margin stood at 46 percent last quarter.
