Phison Electronics' new PS8313-series Universal Flash Storage (UFS) controller has been validated by Qualcomm and HiSilicon Technologies for their smartphone chip platforms, according to the NAND device controller supplier. Phison expects its new UFS solutions to drive its overall eMMC controller business growth in the future.

Phison's overall chip shipments for eMMC devices climbed to a record 83.5 million units in the third quarter, thanks mainly to a seasonal rise in demand for smartphones, the company said.

Phison also disclosed shipments of its solid state drives (SSD) broke the one million mark in October. The shipments exceeded 900,000 units monthly for the first time in September.

Phison added its overall shipments of SSD controller and finished products came to record-high levels of 6.5 million units in the third quarter. The company expects the shipments for all of 2017 to top 24 million units - an annual rise of 26%.

Brisk SSD product shipments, as well as controller shipments for eMMC devices, enabled Phison to report record high profits for the third quarter of 2017. The company generated net profits of NT$1.6 billion in the third quarter, up 7.9% from the same period in 2016, though revenues fell 9.4% on year to NT$11.17 billion.

Phison's revenues for the first three quarters of 2017 totaled NT$31.22 billion, down 4.5% from a year earlier, while operating profits grew 50.8% on year to NT$5.38 billion. The company generated net profits of NT$4.47 billion in the nine-month period, up 34.5% from the same period in 2016, with EPS reaching NT$22.69.