TAIPEI, October 20, 2009 –Zenitron Corporation (TSE: 3028) announced non-audited financial results for the third quarter of 2009 at an investor briefing today. Consolidated revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% quarter-on-quarter and 14.6% year-on-year to NT$ 6.05 billion, the second highest in corporate history. Consolidated pre-tax earnings surged 33.8% quarter-on-quarter and 8.5% year-on-year to NT$153 million. Consolidated revenue for the first 3 quarters of the year amounted to NT$ 15.4 billion. As consolidated earnings before tax of hit NT$370 million, given the weighted average share capital of NT$2.06 billion, EPS before tax was NT$ 1.8.

According to Zenitron CEO Jason Chen, revenue for the third quarter was catapulted to the second high in company history thanks to a brisk season for electronics and increased sales in China, which drove orders for notebook PCs, mobile handsets and consumer electronics. Chen also pointed out that Chinese sales accounted for 32% of Zenitron revenue so far this year, up from 26% for 2008.

Looking forward to Q4, Chen expects good performance for a traditional slow season since more consumers purchase replacement laptops with Windows 7; Japanese customers place additional orders in response to appreciating Japanese Yen and new customers join in; as well as strong demand for NAND flash and increase in touch screen IC orders. 

Chen continued to say that memory card sales are fueled by the ongoing popularity of smartphones and multimedia handsets as well as orders from Chinese name-brand handsets. As far as embedded memory is concerned, first-tier handset makers are upgrading embedded memory to 16GB and 32GB, driving demand. He expects the strong demand for NAND Flash will go on till the Chinese New Year.

Furthermore, the touch feature is more popular on handsets and consumer electronics than ever. Zenitron has successfully become part of some industrial leaders’ supply chain. The company started to ship capacitive touch ICs in quantity in September. Capacitive touch IC sales may challenge NT$1 billion next year.

Eyeing the emerging segments, Zenitron is stepping up USB 3.0, multimedia convergence and “green” industry efforts to support future growth.

USB 3.0 is the next-generation mainstay interface backed by Intel and Microsoft among other industrial leaders. Ten times faster than the existing USB 2.0, it’s also more energy efficient. In addition to PCs and motherboards, there are other devices that need to send and receive multimedia files at high speed, such as digital cameras, printers, external hard drives, solid state drives (SSD), mobile devices and high-definition TVs (HDTVs), creating a potential market for USB 3.0.

According to the market research firm In-Stat, 97% or 420 million PCs will be equipped with USB 3.0 by 2013. That’s in addition to 400 million PC peripherals and 190 million consumer electronic devices. USB 3.0 interface is comprised of host and device ends. Device end requires host-end support to work. Eyeing the USB 3.0 potential, Zenitron offers a complete portfolio for host and device ends (host end: Fresco; device end: Fujitsu). The efforts will begin to pay off next year.

Moreover, Zenitron is optimistic about the emergence of digital family and multimedia markets. Realtek distributor Zenitron is entering the multimedia market by targeting consumer electronics with digital media processor, including high resolution (HD) media players, networked media players and HDTV modules. Consumers may enjoy multimedia playback without worrying about video format support.

Chen underscores that the convergence trend for 3C products will drive demand for multimedia chips, storage devices and interfaces. He anticipates the need to take off in 2010, stimulating business growth. Zenitron has a complete portfolio for the segments, including multimedia chips from Realtek, SSD products from SanDisk as well as USB 3.0 products from Fresco Logic and Fujitsu.

Zenitron won’t miss out on the “green industry” either. The company will initially target “green power” and “green lighting”. Chen said governments as well as the electronic industry are emphasizing low-carbon economy. As power supply is a Zenitron forte, the company is developing the “green power” market with new energy-efficient power management ICs and design initiatives. Its “green lighting” program will center on China as Zenitron enters the compact fluorescent bulb and energy-efficient light fixture markets by offering lighting solutions. Demand is growing with Chinese government’s aggressive push for the green lighting policy. It’s estimated that bigger orders will benefit Zenitron performance in the fourth quarter. There is also a lot of room for growth.

About Zenitron
Since its inception in October 1982, Zenitron Corporation is a solution-centric distributor of semiconductor and electronic components. Zenitron’s product portfolio includes IC, discrete, interface, module, flash memory products etc, with the markets spanning Power Management, Computer & Peripheral, Telecommunications & Networking, and Consumer Electronics. The contract manufacturers are the majority of Zenitron customers, naming B2B markets. The secondary is retail (B2C) market.

In addition to distribution business, Zenitron has been strived for turnkey solutions and resource integration services in recent years. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Zenitron serves in the Greater China area with nearly 20 offices. More information about Zenitron can be found at http://www.zenitron.com.tw/.

Contact:
Cora Yang
Zenitron Corporation
Tel: +886.2.2792.8788 ext. 895
cora_yang@zenitron.com.tw