beeldscherm schreef:
GOODBYE GOLD, CIAO COPPER: Advanced Semiconductor Engineering is upgrading to copper wire-bonding technology, a move that is expected to improve gross margin
Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010,
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, ??????), the world’s biggest chip packager, plans to increase capital spending by more than 50 percent to US$700 million this year to upgrade to more cost-efficient copper wire-bonding machines so it can handle growing orders from the US and China.
That will help ASE hit its goal of expanding its cooper wire-bonding service so that it makes up a third of its total packaging revenues by the end of the year from 6 percent in the first quarter. The Kaohsiung-based company originally budgeted between US$450 million and US$550 million for new equipment this year.
The company started offering the new service earlier this year, replacing existing wire-bonding machines that use gold as a key material in an attempt to avoid rocketing gold prices eroding its margins.
With the new lower-cost copper wire-bonding service, ASE posted 19.2 percent in gross margin for the first quarter, better than local rival Siliconware Precision Industries Co’s (SPIL, ??) 16 percent.
Credit Suisse analyst Randy Abrams estimated ASE’s copper-wire bonding service would save 10 percent for customers and boost gross margins by 100 basis points for each 10 percent shift from gold to copper.
Because of a strong rebound from last year’s economic slump, ASE’s factories are almost fully utilized and it plans to boost capacity this year in Taiwan and China, company chief operating officer Tien Wu (???) told local TV station Unique Satellite TV (?????) on the sidelines of ASE’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
Customer demand would be even stronger in the third quarter, Wu said.
Order visibility next quarter was clearer than in the current quarter, helped by a rebound in China and the US, he said.
(ook klant)