ChipMOS Technologies Inc, a packaging and testing service provider for memory chips and display driver ICs, yesterday provided a positive outlook for next year, supported by new orders from DRAM and NAND chipmakers such as Micron Technology Inc.

The Hsinchu-based firm said it is boosting capacity to cope with rising customer demand, with a capital spending budget of about NT$5 billion (US$161.97 million) this year.

The growth forecast goes against the downtrend faced by most memory chipmakers.

“The company is to complete qualification for new DRAM and NAND products in the first quarter of next year, which will help fuel revenue growth in the second half of the year,” company chairman S.J. Cheng told reporters.

New orders for DRAM and low-density NAND flash chip testing and packaging services from a US client would help buoy ChipMOS’ factory utilization, fending off the memory industry’s downturn, Cheng told investors last month.

The supply contracts would help ChipMOS maintain its factory utilization at a reasonable level for three years, he said yesterday.

Revenue “is to regain growth gradually in the second quarter following a slack season in the first quarter,” Cheng said.

Revenue might grow at an annual pace of 10 percent next year, the firm said, compared with its estimate of up to 5 percent this year from NT$17.94 billion last year.

ChipMOS said driver ICs would be another growth driver next year, thanks to rising penetration for new touch controllers with display driver integration (TDDIs) for smartphone and high-resolution 4K or 8K TVs.

Rising demand will help drive factory utilization for driver ICs to 100 percent in the second half of next year, Cheng said.

ChipMOS plans to expand capacity by a double-digit percentage next year, primarily for TDDI and display driver IC testing and packaging services, he said.

Based on the firm’s business plan and capacity expansion, TDDI revenue is to make a contribution of between 30 and 35 percent to overall display driver IC revenue at the end of next year, compared with 22 percent last quarter, Cheng said.

By: DocMemory
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