Taiwan-based Elite Material Co. (EMC) is a CCL (copper-clad laminates) manufacturer with a leading presence in high-end HDI (high density interconnection) materials. In 2022, the company set revenue records. EMC pointed out that its product combination has improved. The growth in infrastructure network product market share and delivery has resulted in a slight increase in sales and lessened the impact of the poor performance of consumer electronics.
Looking ahead to 2023, EMC believes that even though the overall economic environment is still full of uncertainty, it will continue to release new products to satisfy the demand of new customers and applications. The company remains positive about its operations long term.
With the world's first halogen-free recyclable material and excellent HDI products, EMC saw its market share on Intel's server platform Eagle Stream grow significantly. In addition, EMC broke into large-scale data centers with the 400G switch and saw its market share grow several times compared to previous-gen products. Supply chain sources confirmed that EMC's overall market share on the Eagle Stream platform has grown considerably compared to the previous Whitely platform.
On top of that, with a major US supplier leading the way, EMC's AI server products are planned to be introduced to other international chipmakers and cloud service providers. The high-volume deliveries of HPC (high-performance computing) networking and AI server material have also ensured that infrastructure networking products can continue their strong growth momentum in 2023 and see their revenue share increase significantly.
As LEO (low-Earth orbit) satellite communication continues to mature, EMC can expand based on its industry-leading high-end HDI technology and is projected to achieve massive growth every year. Right now, it's already the largest supplier of LEO satellite substrates in the world. Since LEO satellites don't require a base station, they can complement 5G. With the global satellite industry rapidly growing, the demand for items like satellite equipment, ground stations, and end-user equipment will also greatly increase, and EMC will benefit from this.
EMC previously stated that it has plans to expand to other countries to diversify the risks for its production sites. In addition, it's also investing in an IC substrate production line at its Taoyuan campus. The company also pointed out that its factory in Kunshan, China is looking to add a production capacity of 300,000 CCL units per month.
EMC's revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 reached NT$8.888 billion (US$291 million) with a gross profit margin of 26.85%. Compared to the third quarter, this was a 1.06% increase. The post-tax profit is NT$1.395 billion. In total, the company's 2022 annual revenue reached NT$38.673 billion, a 0.4% YoY growth. This also marked the fourth straight year where the company set revenue records. The post-tax profit is NT$5.076 billion, the second highest in history.
Announced on March 3, EMC's February 2023 revenue was NT$2.365 billion, a 7.64% monthly increase and an 18.94% annual decrease. For the first two months of the year, revenue was NT$4.563 billion, a 29.54% annual decrease. The company pointed out that the first quarter of 2023 could be the low point of the year for the company.
Article translated by Jack Wu
