New customer helps TriQuint to solid quarter
RF chip manufacturer TriQuint has begun shipments of approximately one million CDMA transmit power amplifier modules for a major new customer.
President and CEO of the Hillsboro, Oregon, company, Ralph Quinsey, announced, “I am very happy to report that we are supplying production volume transmit modules for four of the top five handset manufacturers.”
“With this, we are now shipping handset modules to the top three handset suppliers.”
The recent iSuppli worldwide ranking named the top five mobile phone suppliers, in descending order as: Nokia; Motorola; Samsung; SonyEricsson and LG.
CFO Stephanie Welty confirmed that Motorola and Samsung remained TriQuint's most important customers, together contributing over 30% of total revenues in the latest quarter.
The new order was a key feature of the company's first financial quarter of 2007, in which it reported a net profit of $6.4 million, up from $5.8 million in the previous quarter, and achieved a record number of new product designs being taken up by its handset customers.
Revenues of $110.6 million were posted for the quarter, roughly in line with the previous quarter's figure of $114.3 million, and up 26% from the $87.9 million recorded a year ago in the first quarter of 2006.
Networks business compensated for low orders from Motorola, with wireless LAN, base stations, and VSAT amplifier products making contributions that exceeded expectations.
TriQuint's military market performance was also better than anticipated on strong sales in satellite products.
Despite the positive figures, the company predicts flat revenue and profit for the next quarter.
TriQuint expects Motorola's continued troubles, and the costs of moving to an inventory system where it retains ownership of stock held by its customers, to balance out the gains made by its growing business.
Further explaining the importance of the new transmit module deal in the conference call to announce the financial results, Quinsey said, “It represents a high volume opportunity.”
“This is a significant milestone on the way towards our strategic goal of being an RF module supplier to each of the top five handset manufacturers.”
The completion of the top-three set should help the company to weather fluctuating fortunes of individual cell-phone makers, the importance of which is aptly underlined by negative impact expected from Motorola in the forthcoming quarter.
