Prices for DRAM and NAND flash memory chips are "almost at rock bottom" and have little room for further drops, according to Transcend Information chairman Peter Shu. In 2011 when chip prices were dragged down significantly, Transcend managed to boost shipments to mitigate the impact, Shu said.

Transcend's profits for 2011 increased almost 100% despite a lack of revenue growth, Shu indicated.

Transcend reported consolidated revenues of NT$30.2 billion (US$1 billion) for 2011, down 6.1%. Despite the sales decrease, net profits for the year rose 94.3% to NT$2.87 billion. The earnings translated into an EPS of NT$6.72.

Shu credited the higher profits to Transcend's focus on high-margin memory modules for industrial and other niche-market use, and high-end flash devices such as Class 10 SD cards.

Transcend's combined shipments of its memory modules and strategic products such as digital photo frames and portable electronics devices topped 100 million units in 2011, up more than 25% from the 790,000 shipped in 2010, the company revealed. Gross margin climbed to 16.47% in 2011 from 11.85% in 2010.

Sales of NAND flash devices accounted for 64.56% of Transcend's total 2011 revenues, followed by strategic products with 18.24%. The proportion of DRAM-module sales slid to 17.2% in 2011 from 25.79% a year ago, affected by falling prices, the company disclosed.

Europe remained Transcend's target market with sales accounting for 37.2% of company revenues in 2011, followed by Asia with 28.13% and the US with 10.7%.

As of the end of 2011, Transcend had as high as NT$9.71 billion in cash on hand. Meanwhile, the firm had NT$4.5 billion worth of inventory.

Looking forward, Shu expects Transcend to enjoy another year of growth in 2012 with flat gross margin.