22 December 2010

San Chih’s revenue for sapphire ingots to overtake silicon wafers in 2H11

Analysts forecast that the revenues of Taiwan’s San Chih Semiconductor Co Ltd from sapphire ingot production will exceed those from semiconductor wafers (silicon) in first-half 2011, reports Digitimes.

San Chih’s sapphire ingot facility and equipment went online in fourth-quarter 2010 and began contributing to revenue in November. December’s sales should rise to NT$7m (US$234,000), about 10–15% of overall monthly revenue.

San Chih will have installed 10 furnaces by the end of 2010 and plans to increase this to 15–20 in first-half 2011, bringing monthly capacity to 100,000mm, the firm indicates, adding that the facility could house maximum monthly capacity of 400,000mm when all production lines are online in first-quarter 2012.

San Chih mainly manufactures 2-, 4- and 5-inch semiconductor wafers, but it has also entered volume production of 6-inch wafers and is currently evaluating opportunities for producing 8-inch wafers. The firm forecasts revenue growth higher than the industry average for 2011 since fabs in Europe and the USA are outsourcing small- to medium-size wafer business as they place more emphasis on the large-diameter segment.

However, due to the higher margin of sapphire ingot business, San Chih’s earnings per share (EPS) is expected to rise from NT$7–8 in 2010 to NT$12 in 2011, analysts note.

Tags: Sapphire ingots Sapphire

Visit: www.sanchih.com.tw/en

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