Dialog tips 'very strong' fourth quarter

LONDON – Fabless mixed-signal IC vendor Dialog Semiconductor plc has announced that it now expects to achieve sales in the fourth quarter of 2011 of $172 million, exceeding the $150 million to $157 million range it had previously given as an outlook.

Dialog (Kirchheim-unter-Teck, Germany), which makes integrated power management, audio and short range wireless ICs, did not indicate a reason for the unexpected sales boom, but it is notable that Dialog had previously advised it had started shipping a power management and audio IC for use by Samsung in Android smartphones.

Samsung itself has said it enjoyed a record fourth quarter based on strong smartphone sales. Dialog is also present inside the Apple iPhone series of smartphones. Dialog has also worked closely with Intel in the past developing PMICs.

Dialog has said that it achieved record revenue for both the fourth quarter and the full year of 2011. The company said it expects to report 2011 revenue of approximately $527 million, representing annual growth of 78 percent over 2010.

Dialog added that gross margins remain under pressure because of higher volume customer contracts and higher material costs. However, the company said the margin pressure should improve during the second half of 2012 as "the supply chain environment starts to ease."

Dialog said it added $19 million to its cash and cash equivalent balances during 4Q11 so that they stood at $114 million on Dec. 31, 2011. Dialog expects to publish 4Q11 and full year financial results on Feb. 22, 2012.


Related links and articles:

www.dialog-semiconductor.com

News articles:

Dialog wins sockets in Samsung smartphones

Image gallery: Inside iPhone 4S

Actions, Dialog raise Q3 forecasts