Josephine Lien, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Friday 11 January 2013]

NAND flash device manufacturers Transcend Information, Apacer Electronics and Phison Electronics have all reported sequential revenue declines for December 2012, but prospects for the companies are likely to turn better in the first quarter of 2013 thanks to stabilizing chip prices.

Prices for NAND flash memory started to fall at a slower pace in late-2012, and have recently shown signs of rebounding, according to industry sources. The price stabilization will benefit downstream device makers' operations in 2013, the sources said.

Revenues at NAND flash device makers were dragged down by seasonal factors in December. However, with chip prices ending their decline in early 2013, the companies are expected to see sales rebound in January, the sources noted.

Transcend has announced that December revenues slipped about 30% sequentially to NT$1.73 billion (US$60 million). The company attributed the on-month drop to a seasonal slowdown in demand, as well as slow inventory digestion at channel distributors. Falling prices for NAND flash chips were another reason causing the revenue decrease.

Transcend's revenues for 2012 totaled NT$25.4 billion, slipping 13% on year.

Apacer saw its December revenues decline 12.8% sequentially to NT$530 million, which hit the lowest monthly level for 2012. Revenues for the year came to NT$7.45 billion.

December sales at Phison registered an about 14% drop on month. The firm generated revenues of NT$33.08 billion in 2012.