RF Micro posts annual net profit of $16.3 million
Greensboro-based RFIC specialist RF Micro Devices has turned in a net profit of $16.3 million for fiscal 2006, which ended on March 31.
The figure shows a massive improvement on RFMD's 2005 fiscal performance, during which it recorded a net loss of $66 million, and reflects both market share gains and an upsurge in demand for mobile phones.
In particular, booming sales of high-end handsets that require more GaAs content have seen RFMD's average selling prices rise strongly.
Despite the latest quarter being a seasonally weak one for the cell-phone handset industry, RFMD posted record revenue of $225.9 million, up a massive 50% on the equivalent period in 2005.
That growth is expected to continue, with RFMD predicting sales of between $230 million and $245 million in the current quarter.
Company CFO Dean Priddy said that substantial investment in wafer fab and assembly capacity would see that trend continue: "Specifically, the 40% increase in our GaAs fab capacity will position us to capture our customers' increasing requirements for multiple power amplifiers and switches in their handsets and wireless LAN applications."
RFMD's 6-inch wafer fab expansion is now under way, and the company has already begun buying the equipment that it needs to ramp up capacity.
Both RFMD's key handset customer Nokia and Strategy Analytics have now forecast stronger unit growth in the cell-phone market for 2006 than they had previously expected (see related stories).
