Acute Applied Technologies (Aatek), the first Taiwanese optical pick-up head (PUH) maker, expects to ship 10 million units and post a profit this year after years of losses, according to a company executive.
The current quoted price for each DVD drive PUH is US$6. Thus, Aatek’s revenue this year could reach roughly US$60 million, or NT$2.1 billion.
According to Aatek’s own estimates, worldwide DVD optical drive sales will grow 40% this year to 60 million to 70 million units from 50 million units last year and Aatek will capture around 14-16% of the market this year. The company also expects DVD optical drive shipments in China to grow to 40 million units this year from 30 million units last year. Hence, Aatek could achieve a 25% market share in China, where it derives all of its sales.
Aatek is not only expanding production but also reducing component costs by reducing the use of holographic optical elements (HOEs), a component that integrates photodetectors, laser diodes (LDs) and other key components. According to a company executive, Aatek has managed to replace HOEs but declined to elaborate. HOEs account for US$1 of the costs of each PUH. The company’s PUH without HOE has already been validated by some clients and will enter volume production in March. By cutting down on the use of HOEs, Aatek can generate an extra of US$0.50 of gross profit for each unit.
Other than DVD-ROM drive PUHs, Aatek also ships PUHs for notebook slim-type DVD drives and CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drives. The company also plans to ship recordable and rewritable DVD drive PUHs as its next step.
|
Aatek: 2003 production capacity | ||
|
Location |
Production lines |
Monthly production capacity (units) |
|
Hsinchu, Taiwan |
Shut down |
-- |
|
Dongguan, Guangdong Province (China) |
3 |
Two million |
|
Shanghai |
Original 3 lines will move to Wujiang this year | |
|
Wujiang, Jiangsu Province (China) |
2 | |
Source: compiled by DigiTimes, January 2003.
Article translated by Sarah Chang and edited by Richard So
