Quartz crystal and component maker TXC has set aside a capex budget of NT$2.59 billion (US$91.7 million) for procuring equipment, removing bottlenecks in existing manufacturing processes and setting up experimental production lines in 2021, and fellow maker Siward Crystal Technology will invest NT$320 million to set up additional production lines in Taiwan and invest NT$180 million to do so in Japan, according to industry sources.
Global supply of quartz crystal and components has been tight for a while, especially miniature models used in 5G, Wi-Fi 6/6E and wide-temperature-range models for automotive electronics, the sources said.
For miniature quartz components, lead time now exceeds six months and tight supply will remain until third-quarter 2021, the sources noted. Miniature quartz components consist of specification codes 1612, 1210, 1008 and 0806, mainly for smartphones, wearables and IoT devices.
TXC posted consolidated revenues of NT$11.408 billion, gross margin of 30.17%, operating profit of 1.618 billion and net profit of NT$1.429 billion for 2020, and will distribute a cash dividend per share of NT$3.80 for the year.
Networking applications accounted for 31% of its 2020 consolidated revenues; mobile communication, 30%; mobile computing, 15%; IoT, 8%; automotive electronics, 5%; and others, 11%.
TXC has reported consolidated revenues of NT$969.5 million for February, decreasing 19.38% sequentially but increasing 43.50% on year, and those of NT$2.172 billion for January-February hiked 63.44% on year.
Siward recorded consolidated revenues of NT$2.591 billion, gross margin of 20.55%, operating profit of NT$201.6 million and net profit of NT$162.0 million, and will distribute a cash dividend per share of NT$0.50 for the year.
Siward has reported consolidated revenues of NT$203.7 million for February, slipping 22.91% sequentially but rising 37.94% on year, and those of NT$467.9 million for January-February grew 47.82% on year.
