Bough Lin, chairman of Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), has predicted that the semiconductor market is unlikely to return to its seasonal growth pattern until the third quarter of 2015.
A seasonal pick-up in demand usually starts in the second quarter, but the pick-up has been particularly slow in 2015, said Lin. With the China market becoming more significant, end-market device clients have adjusted their schedules for ordering chip components, Lin indicated.
Meanwhile, handset vendors including Apple and Samsung have seen their sales slow down starting the second quarter, which Lin identified as another factor behind the particularly weak second quarter of 2015.
SPIL's revenues are set to be between NT$21.2 billion (US$695.6 million) and NT$22.4 billion in the second quarter, representing sequential growth of 1.9-7.6%, Lin forecast. Sales generated from the communications market will continue to grow, while those from the PC and consumer electronics segments will register slight increases. As for memory, revenues generated from the sector will fall in the second quarter, Lin said.
SPIL expects to utilize about 76-80% of its wire-bonding capacity in the second quarter, compared to 80% in the first quarter. Meanwhile, utilization rates of its flip-chip (FC) and bumping packaging, and logic IC testing will reach 83-87% and 73-77%, respectively, in the second quarter, from 80% and 75% in the first.
SPIL's gross margin will rise to 26.5-28.5% in the second quarter from 26.2% in the first, thanks mainly to a higher revenue proportion for FC packaging and testing, Lin noted. Operating margin will also climb to 16.5-18.5% in the second quarter compared with 16.7% in the prior quarter, Lin said.
In addition, SPIL's capex for 2015 remains unchanged at NT$14.5 billion, Lin indicated. The majority of the expenditure will be used for the manufacture of FC packaging, bumping and testing.
