Chipbond Technology and International Semiconductor Technology (IST), two major Taiwan-based LCD driver IC packaging and testing houses, have both estimated September 2009 revenues to hit their monthly highs as the peak season draws to a close. Forecasts for the fourth quarter show revenues may remain flat sequentially at best, or drop by up to 20%.
Chipbond and IST have seen customers slow down their pace of orders for October and beyond, according to the companies. Chipbond also said the estimated revenue drop of less than 20% will have little impact on its contract quotes for the fourth quarter.
Chipbond's revenues climbed to the year's high of NT$640 million (US$19.5 million) in August, also hitting its monthly record. IST saw August revenues return to an on-year growth track ending its run of drops since May 2008.
Both Chipbond and IST enjoyed revenue jumps of over 100% sequentially in the second quarter. Market watchers estimated in previous reports that the two driver IC backend suppliers would manage on-quarter revenue growth of 40-45% and 25-30%, respectively, in the third quarter.
Despite significant improvements in sequential revenue growth, Chipbond and IST still experienced revenue declines on an annual basis in the second quarter.
Article translated by Jessie Shen
