King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) and Ardentec are both seeing increased demand for LCD driver ICs, communications chips and power management (PWM) ICs, with order visibility being clear until May, according to the companies. The two IC testing houses expect a strong second quarter of 2010.
KYEC said sales growth generated from its LCD driver IC business will outperform the handset IC and NOR flash sectors, but the last two are also showing strong growth momentum. Monthly revenues are expected to increase sequentially during the second quarter, the company said, without giving figures.
For first-quarter guidance, KYEC said it now expects revenues for the ongoing quarter to hold level from the fourth quarter of 2009 thanks to stronger-than-expected orders from the LCD driver IC sector. It previously estimated a revenue drop of up to 5% sequentially.
Rival Ardentec is also positive over its second-quarter revenue outlook, attributing the strong quarter to growing demand across logic IC, multi-chip package (MCP) products, PWM ICs, communications chips and memory. Meanwhile, demand for small-size driver ICs is slowly picking up, according to Ardentec.
Ardentec said revenues for the first quarter of 2010 should decrease by around 5% on a quarterly basis as estimated previously. With new equipment to be installed, revenues for the upcoming second quarter are likely to grow slightly on quarter, the company expects.