Memory controller IC supplier Silicon Motion Technology has reported record revenues for the third quarter of 2011, while raising its revenue growth forecast for the full year for the third time.
Silicon Motion announced revenues of US$63.2 million for the third quarter, up 25% sequentially. Mobile storage products accounted for 61% of the third-quarter sales, followed by mobile communications with 32% and multimedia SoCs with 6%.
Sales of mobile storage products such as flash memory cards, USB flash drives, SSD and embedded flash controllers increased 15% sequentially in the third quarter, while those of mobile communication products – primarily mobile TV IC solutions and handset transceivers – rose by a larger 58% on quarter, the company said. Meanwhile, sales of multimedia SoC products grew 9% from the prior quarter.
"This quarter we benefited from substantially better than expected availability of NAND flash and accelerated build of 4G LTE smartphones by Samsung," said Silicon Motion president and CEO Wallace Kou in a statement.
Silicon Motion expects fourth-quarter revenues to stay flat or drop by up to 10% sequentially. Revenues for all of 2011 are forecast to see 61-66% growth.
Silicon Motion previously said 2011 revenues would rise 40-50%, which was revised from a narrower 30-40% rise originally estimated.
"Although our third-quarter revenue exceeded expectations due to much better than expected availability of NAND flash to module makers together with accelerated build of LTE smartphones, these two factors may soften in the fourth quarter," Kou indicated. "We believe our sales to module makers could be affected if NAND flash price volatility were to worsen. While we expect our LTE sales to continue growing strongly next year, we also expect orders in the fourth quarter to decline due to our customer's procurement timing."
However, Silicon Motion's sales performance thus far in 2011 has been brisk enough to enable another upward revision in its full-year guidance. Looking forward, Kou said the company is well positioned for further growth in 2012 as its SSD and eMMC controllers start contributing meaningfully. Sales of its LTE transceiver solutions will also buoy Silicon Motion's sales performance next year, Kou indicated.