News

5 August 2010

 

Smartphone demand drives 54% year-on-year growth in Kopin’s III-V revenue in Q2

For second-quarter 2010, Kopin Corp of Taunton, MA, USA has reported revenue of $30.2m, up 19% on last quarter’s $25.4m and up 7% on $28.2m a year ago.

Revenue for CyberDisplays was $14.3m, down on $17.9m a year ago but up on $10.9m last quarter, driven by military applications. Revenue for III-V products was $15.9m, up 7% on $14.5m last quarter and up a huge 53.6% on $10.4m a year ago, driven by global demand for smartphones.

“The positive momentum we experienced during the first quarter continued as we reached the mid-point of 2010,” comments president & CEO Dr John C.C. Fan.

However, gross margin has fallen from 25.7% a year ago to 25% due to a drop year-on-year in sales of military products (which have a higher gross margin than other display products).

Almost still only half the $3.7m of a year ago, net income has rebounded to $1.9m (from last quarter’s dip to just $1m). Despite this, cash and marketable securities fell during the quarter from $119m to $115.3m.

“Industry projections indicate that the sale of smartphones and other 3G and 4G mobile devices should be strong for several years,” Fan says. “This trend is significant to Kopin, as these next-generation wireless devices contain up to three times greater heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) content than is contained in a traditional wireless handset, resulting in the strong III-V revenue growth we are experiencing,” he adds.

Kopin has also announced a two-year extension of its HBT purchase and supply agreement with Skyworks Solutions Inc of Woburn, MA (which manufactures linear products, power amplifiers, front-end modules and radio solutions) to supply the vast majority of its HBT wafer requirements through July 2012. Kopin had previously extended the agreement from April 2008 through to July 2010.

“To meet Skyworks Solutions’ and our other valued customers increasing demands, we are continually investing in additional people, advanced technologies and the industry’s most advanced growth reactors,” comments Fan. In May, Kopin completed a multi-year purchase and supply agreement with Aixtron AG of Aachen-Herzogenrath, Germany for additional high-volume (7x6”-wafer) ‘Integrated Concept (IC) Platform’ metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactors, beginning Kopin’s plan for an additional 50% capacity expansion in its facilities in the USA and Taiwan. The first two systems are due to be installed at Kopin Taiwan Corp (KTC) in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan by the end of this year.

“Our business continues to gain momentum,” Fan says. “Kopin’s future looks strong, with smartphone proliferation just commencing and expected to remain robust for a number of years, while TWS [Thermal Weapon Sights], our key display product category, was recently reaffirmed as a critical weapons platform by the DoD [US Department of Defense],” he adds. “We remain on pace to achieve our revenue guidance of $120–130m for full-year 2010, and expect 2011 will be an even better year.”

See related items:

Kopin’s III-V revenue more than doubles year-on-year in Q1

Kopin reports record Q4 revenue, up 13% year-on-year

Kopin’s III-V revenues rise 37%, driven by smartphones/3G

Kopin invests in Taiwan foundry as GaAs demand returns

Search: Kopin

Visit: www.kopin.com