SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Silicon Storage Technology Inc. (SST) posted strong results for the fourth quarter of 2003 due to strong demand for its flash memory products. The stronger-than-expected demand has prompted SST to expand its foundry capacity.
SST said its net revenues for the fourth quarter were $95.2 million, compared with $73.9 million in the third quarter of 2003, and $62.8 million in the fourth quarter a year ago.
Net income for the fourth quarter of 2003 was $9.1 million, or $0.09 per share. This includes a charge of $1.4 million relating to its suit with Atmel Corp. over flash memory technology.
By comparison, the company recorded a net loss of $59 million, or a loss of $0.62 per share on approximately 95 million shares outstanding in the third quarter of 2003, and a net loss of $7.7 million, or a loss of $0.08 per share on 93.2 million shares outstanding in the fourth quarter of 2002.
"The fourth quarter was a strong quarter for SST," said Bing Yeh, president and CEO. "The industry recovery that we began to see in the third quarter is continuing its momentum into 2004. Booking activities in the fourth quarter were at their highest level since our last peak in 2000, largely due to strength in the digital consumer and Internet computing market segments. Unit shipments once again set a new record for the company, increasing 17 percent from the third quarter of 2003," he said.
Demand has prompted the company to expand its foundry capacity. "While the demand for our products is picking up rapidly, we are expanding our foundry capacity correspondingly. During the fourth quarter, we fully qualified additional production capacities at HHNEC for a 0.33-micron embedded flash process, at Grace for the 0.25-micron second-generation SuperFlash process, and at TSMC for the 0.18-micron second-generation SuperFlash process," he said.
"During the first quarter of 2004, we expect to complete the qualification of Vanguard and Grace for 0.18-micron second-generation SuperFlash process and to qualify HHNEC for 0.25-micron process. With these additional foundry capacities, and the existing production volume at TSMC, Seiko Epson, Sanyo and Samsung, we are confident in meeting our growth plan for the next two years," he said.
The company expects its first quarter financial results to be seasonally weaker. The company believes that its first quarter revenues will be between $94 million and $100 million. SST expects to achieve earnings per share of between $0.08 and $0.10 in the first quarter.
