ID :
196177
Thu, 07/21/2011 - 06:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/196177
The shortlink copeid
Hynix Q2 net slumps on weaker demand from PC makers
(LEAD) SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world's second-largest maker of memory chips, said Thursday that its second-quarter earnings slumped 34 percent from one year earlier, as weak demand for PCs battered memory chip prices.
Net profit reached 473 billion won (US$448.4 million) in the April-June period, compared with 718.7 billion won one year earlier, it said in a regulatory filing.
The bottom line was higher than the market consensus of 373.8 billion won, according to analysts polled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.
Sales fell 16 percent from one year ago to 2.76 trillion won and operating profit also declined 56 percent to 446.9 billion won.
Hynix competes with bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co. in the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip market and with Japan-based Toshiba Corp. in the NAND flash memory market.
Last month, market research firm Gartner Inc. cut its annual growth forecast for the worldwide PC market to 9.3 percent this year, compared with its previous forecast of 10.5 percent, because consumers in advanced markets are reluctant to buy new PCs.
PC makers have been facing uphill competition from new mobile computing devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs. Chipmakers are trying to counter slow growth in computer memory chip sales by capitalizing on the booming demand for mobile chips.
In response to the trend that mobile device sales outstrip growth of PC sales, Hynix raised the portion of non-PC DRAMs to 70 percent of its second-quarter sales, which will be maintained for the rest of the year, it said.
Nevertheless, the second-quarter profit was still hurt by the weak consumer spending on electronics products, as the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and an economic slowdown in the United States held back consumers there.
"The second quarter started off with solid demand amid supply concerns resulting from the Japanese earthquake," Hynix said in a statement. "However, this trend reversed in the latter part of the quarter due to weaker than expected demand."
Analysts said Hynix will face uncertainties for the rest of the year as PC shipments will likely see little growth in the second half of this year and Nokia Corp., the world's largest maker of mobile phones and a major mobile DRAM chip buyer, struggles with its mobile business.
But Apple Inc.'s new smartphone products, expected to be released in the fall, could spur new demand for mobile DRAM devices and NAND flash memories, Song Jong-ho, an analyst at Daewoo Securities Co., said in a report.
Net profit reached 473 billion won (US$448.4 million) in the April-June period, compared with 718.7 billion won one year earlier, it said in a regulatory filing.
The bottom line was higher than the market consensus of 373.8 billion won, according to analysts polled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.
Sales fell 16 percent from one year ago to 2.76 trillion won and operating profit also declined 56 percent to 446.9 billion won.
Hynix competes with bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co. in the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip market and with Japan-based Toshiba Corp. in the NAND flash memory market.
Last month, market research firm Gartner Inc. cut its annual growth forecast for the worldwide PC market to 9.3 percent this year, compared with its previous forecast of 10.5 percent, because consumers in advanced markets are reluctant to buy new PCs.
PC makers have been facing uphill competition from new mobile computing devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs. Chipmakers are trying to counter slow growth in computer memory chip sales by capitalizing on the booming demand for mobile chips.
In response to the trend that mobile device sales outstrip growth of PC sales, Hynix raised the portion of non-PC DRAMs to 70 percent of its second-quarter sales, which will be maintained for the rest of the year, it said.
Nevertheless, the second-quarter profit was still hurt by the weak consumer spending on electronics products, as the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and an economic slowdown in the United States held back consumers there.
"The second quarter started off with solid demand amid supply concerns resulting from the Japanese earthquake," Hynix said in a statement. "However, this trend reversed in the latter part of the quarter due to weaker than expected demand."
Analysts said Hynix will face uncertainties for the rest of the year as PC shipments will likely see little growth in the second half of this year and Nokia Corp., the world's largest maker of mobile phones and a major mobile DRAM chip buyer, struggles with its mobile business.
But Apple Inc.'s new smartphone products, expected to be released in the fall, could spur new demand for mobile DRAM devices and NAND flash memories, Song Jong-ho, an analyst at Daewoo Securities Co., said in a report.
