After scoring impressive revenue and profit records in 2017, Taiwan-based logic IC packaging firm Greatek Electronics, an affiliate of Powertech Technology (PTI) , is quite optimistic about its performance prospects for 2018, with revenue growth to be bolstered by new packaging processes, new customer orders, and new production capacity, according to company CEO Boris Hsieh.
Hsieh said that after years of deployments, Greatek will see orders coming from new clients, mainly US IDMs, with volume shipments to start in 2018.
In addition, the production capacities for the firm's newly deployed packaging processes such as bumping, WLCSP (wafer level chip scale package) and flip-chip will increase sharply in the second half of the year.
Furthermore, the company, which began to handle mining chips packaging orders for China customers four years ago, will also see more orders from the customers in the year, according to Hsieh.
Greatek has reported revenues of NT$11.951 billion (US$409.52 million) for 2017, surging 13% on year, with its EPS reaching NT$4.41 and gross margin hitting 28.9% for the year, higher than the industry average, Hsieh indicated.
He revealed that the revenue ratio for packaging reached 85.7% in 2017, compared to 14.3% for the testing business. In terms of IC types, logic IC accounted for 57.1% of the firm's backend service business, against 36.7% for analog IC and 6.2% for NOR flash memory chips.
Greatek is deepening deployments in the automotive electronics, IoT, 5G, high performing computing and flash memory sectors, Hsieh said, adding that the efforts will gradually pay off with a double-digit growth in shipments to customers in the sectors in the next few years.
The company will continue its investment in traditional packaging operations such as QFN, BGA, and LGA in 2018, Hsieh disclosed.
Greatek Electronics CEO Boris Hsieh
Photo: Julian Ho, Digitimes, January 2018
Article translated by Willis Ke
