Phison Electronics expects to make solid earnings in 2011, and is gearing up for significant revenue and market share gains in 2012, according to company chairman Khein Seng Pua.
Phison saw its net profits climb to almost NT$1.8 billion (US$60 million) in the first three quarters of 2011, up more than 40% from the NT$1.22 billion posted a year earlier. EPS came to NT$10.07 for the nine-month period, compared to NT$6.91 during the same period of 2010.
Having preserved enough cash, Phison is looking to expand its revenues and market share, Pua indicated. The company is eyeing bigger shares in the USB 3.0, eMMC and SSD fields in 2012, Pua said.
Phison also has a cost advantage over fellow companies given its advanced technology processes, Pua noted. The company is migrating to 55nm processing whereas most of its rivals use 0.11- or 0.13-micron technologies.
In addition, Pua commented that prices for NAND flash still have little room for growth. Quotes will likely be adjusted downward 5-10% each quarter for the foreseeable future, Pua said.
Phison supplies controller ICs for NAND flash memory integrated into products such as USB flash drives and memory cards. In recent years, the company has stepped into making products for SSDs and embedded solutions such as eMMC NAND devices used in smartphone and tablet PC applications.
Phison's controller chips reportedly have been selected by Hynix Semiconductor, Micron Technology and Kingston Technology, and have also been used in Acer's recently-launched ultrabooks.