MediaTek loses top IC designer earner title in Taiwan

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MediaTek loses top IC designer earner title in Taiwan

2015/08/15 17:37:06

Taipei, Aug. 15 (CNA) MediaTek Inc. (聯發科) lost its title as the most profitable integrated circuit designer in terms of earnings per share (EPS) in Taiwan in the first half of this year in the wake of slowing global demand for smartphone chips, according to statistics released Saturday.

Smartphone chips serve as the largest revenue source for MediaTek, accounting for more than 60 percent of the IC designer's total sales.

In the six-month period, MediaTek posted NT$8.68 (US$0.27) in EPS, lagging behind NT$9.15 posted by Phison Electronics Corp.(群聯), a controller IC designer, who took first place, the data indicates.

In a saturated 3G market, global smartphone needs have shown signs of shrinking, while the momentum of the world's 4G market has failed to pick up, market analysts said.

Under such unfavorable circumstances, MediaTek suffered a 40 percent year-on-year decline in net profit in the first half of this year in the wake of a decline in smartphone chip shipments.

Escalating price competition after aggressive product price cuts by rival Qualcomm Inc. also eroded MediaTek's bottom line, the analysts said. In the second quarter of this year, MediaTek's gross margin fell 1.4 percentage points to 45.9 percent.

MediaTek's first-half EPS for this year was down sharply from NT$14.89 recorded over the same period of last year.

Due to the weaker-than-expected global smartphone market, MediaTek has anticipated that its sales for the whole of 2015 will fall 5-10 percent from 2014, while cutting its smartphone chip shipment forecast to 400 million units from 450 million units for the year.

Phison, benefiting from a new high of its controller IC shipments, rose one notch to become the top earner among local IC designers after its EPS grew to NT$9.15 from NT$8.51 recorded a year earlier.

Parade Technologies Ltd. (普瑞), a touch IC designer, came in third, posting NT$7.05 in EPS for the first half of this year. While the EPS for the six-month period fell from NT$7.55 recorded a year earlier, Parade retained its title as the third-most profitable IC designer in Taiwan.

Silergy Corp. (矽力), a power management chip designer, ranked the fourth-most profitable earner, up from seventh place recorded a year earlier, after the company posted NT$6.67 in EPS for the six- month period.

ASPEED Technology Inc. (信驊) posted NT$5.42 in EPS for the first half of this year, making the company the fifth-most profitable IC designer in Taiwan, up one notch from a year earlier.

(By Jackson Chang and Frances Huang)