Spansion sees strong embedded, consumer growth for flash

SAN FRANCISCO -- Embedded and consumer markets and a broadening porfolio of flash memory devices will continue to drive increased business for memory maker Spansion Inc. in the coming months, but global economic uncertainty marked by political change is dampening industry growth, Spansion CEO John Kispert said Thursday (Oct. 25).

"Our adoption is up, and we're getting into new markets with broader product lines," Kispert said in an interview, as he announced Spansion revenues of $239.7 million and profits of $5 million, numbers within a range of financial guidance the company gave during its second quarter. The quarter continues a strong showing from a company that only last year came out of a difficult bankruptcy and restructuring period.

Spansion revenues in consumer markets (home gateways and digital cameras, for example) were 39 percent, up a full 10 percentage points the same quarter last year and up 2 percentage sequentially. The company's other strong suits, gaming and communications, saw the percentage of overall revenues rise to 32 percent from 23 percent in the third quarter of 2011.

Overall, Spansion reported 520 design wins in the quarter, up from the 458 in the second quarter.

Industrial challenge

The company's big challenge came in its industrial and transportation sector, which dropped to 23 percent of total revenues from 29 percent in the same period a year ago. Automotive was flat, and industrial sales were hampered by government spending.

"We're having record design wins [in industrial], but revenue is weaker and that's a sign of the times," said Kispert (shown, right). "Most of our industrial business is driven by government spending, and that's dried up."