Formosa Advanced Technologies (FATC), which provides backend services mainly for Nanya Technology and Inotera Memories, is expected to post sales growth of 10% sequentially in the third quarter of 2012, according to market sources. Monthly sales during the quarter are set to reach NT$1.1-1.2 billion (US$37-40 million) on sustained demand for DRAM.

FATC has reported consolidated revenues of NT$1 billion for June 2012, up 2.6% on month but down 12.5% from a year ago. Consolidated sales for the second quarter grew 8.2% sequentially to about NT$3 billion.

FATC's gross margin, which slid to as low as 4% in the first quarter, will climb to 7-11% in the second quarter, the sources estimated. The firm has seen its utilization rate improve gradually, the sources said.

In addition, the sources revealed that in terms of sales breakdown by application, consumer electronics now account for about 50% of FATC's revenues, followed by the PC and notebook segment with 35%. Chips for high-end servers and ultrabooks make up the remainder.

FATC's 2012 capex is estimated at NT$2.7 billion, which will be mainly used to develop new packaging technologies including those for module parts used in servers and SSDs, the sources said.

FATC previously indicated that the firm had been adjusting its product mix according to customer needs. FATC has allocated more capacity for niche-market and mobile DRAM chips to mitigate the impact of falling demand coming from the conventional PC sector.