Epitaxial wafer (epi wafer) supplier Intelligent Epitaxy Technology (IntelliEPI) is optimistic about demand for industrial and military defense applications, as well as demand for 5G and 6G connectivity devices.
Looking forward, IntelliEPI chairman Kao Yung-chung said his company will focus on four main development points. The first will be to promote 5G- and 6G-related products. The second is to pay equal attention to mass production and advanced process products while concentrating on mainstream market opportunities. The third is to focus on molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) products, and the fourth is to strengthen their MBE software and hardware capabilities.
IntelliEPI expects defense orders from the US and its allies will help the company maintain gallium antimonide (GaSb) growth in 2023. IntelliEPI plans to add more machines and deepen customer cooperation in the future.
IntelliEPI's consolidated 2022 revenue totaled NT$893 million (US$29.45 million), up 18.39% on year. Net profit after tax came in at NT$158 million and net profit margin at 17.67%. Revenue and profit both hit record highs.
Indium phosphide (InP) epi wafers accounted for 54.08% of product sales in 2022, among which sales of heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) epi wafers grew significantly. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) sales were on par with the previous year, accounting for 27.79%.
Kao pointed out that the current development of wireless communications technologies and products is highly related to IntelliEPI's business. In 2022, IntelliEPI benefited from 5G and IoT business opportunities, seeing all but its hardware component product lines grow significantly.
Kao said that customer mass production orders have been more conservative in the first half of 2023, due to a variety of factors including inflation and the US tightening of export controls on semiconductor products. As a result, mass production orders in the first two months of the year were slightly delayed.
IntelliEPI is confident in future product sales and market development and expects performance to gradually improve. Kao attributes this to the continuous development of 5G, 6G, big data, and AI-related applications, coupled with its stable customer relationships and the US government's strong support for the semiconductor industry.
Article translated by Eifeh Strom
