GT Forecasts Fiscal 2011 Revenues to Reach US$899 Million

GT Advanced Technologies (GT) forecasts fiscal 2011 revenues to reach US$899 million. Accumulated orders for the firm's Advanced Sapphire Furnace (ASF) product line have reached US$944 million since December 2010 due to expansion of the LED market, and most of the revenues from these orders will be shown in the company's results of fiscal 2013 (April 2012-March 2013), said GT Advanced. GT Advanced also produces sapphire materials. It currently produces 8-inch sapphire ingots but 80% of materials are used to produce 4-6 inch products. According to GT Advanced vice president and general manager, Cheryl Diuguid, after the acquisition of Crystal System in July 2010, GT has entered the fast growing LED industry. Although GT provides sapphire materials but the sales from the segment only account for a small portion of total revenues. In the future, GT will focus on ASF. Currently, 98% of sales of ASF are from Asia-based customers in China, Taiwan and South Korea, added Diuguid. Diuguid pointed out that the LED lighting market has been expanding. Due to the expansion, the price of LED light bulbs are expected to drop below US$10/unit. This means both upstream and downstream firms have to accommodate each other to achieve such pricing. When GT designs equipment, the falling price trend of LED lighting and cost competition among the firms have all been taken into consideration. GT is optimistic about the long-term development of the market. Source: www.digitimes.com