GEORGE TOWN: Most of Penang-based electrical and electronic (E&E) manufacturing companies are optimistic about their second-half year performance for this year.
In its recent announcement to Bursa Malaysia, Globetronics Technology Bhd
said it was actively engaging with a few potential customers to secure new business.
The group remains cautiously optimistic, barring any unforeseen circumstances, to achieve satisfactory financial performance in 2024.
The semiconductor industry continues to experience challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical issues, resulting in unpredictable market conditions.
Globetronics has taken measures to minimise any potential exposures or disruptions arising from these challenges.
PIE Industrial Bhd, meanwhile, said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia recently that it expected the supply to the supercomputing server segment to increase in the third quarter of 2024.
The critical integrated circuit component shortage situation in the first quarter of 2024 improved in the second quarter, which resulted in the higher delivery of supercomputing server products.
PIE said supply was expected to increase in the third quarter of 2024 and all the backlog orders are expected to be cleared by year-end.
The group has committed its third and fifth plants for this supercomputing customer in anticipation of the increased orders.
Vitrox Corp Bhd said in its Bursa Malaysia announcement that the group was confident in achieving steady growth and improvements in the semiconductor back-end sector.
The group said it would vigorously invest in research and development to deliver cutting-edge solutions, capitalising on the opportunities of Industry 4.0 and the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
“Our focus will remain on fortifying customer relationships and ensuring diligent cost management.
“In the second half of 2024, the board remains cautiously optimistic about the group’s business prospects.
“Amid the slower-than-expected world economic recovery, we are poised to navigate the volatility and embrace the challenges ahead,” Vitrox said.
MMS Ventures Bhd, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia, noted that its investments in the medical equipment and energy storage business have essentially paid off.
“The mainstay of our business for the past few years has always been associated with smart devices.
“When the industry took a downturn, we made our foray into other sectors, mainly the medical equipment and energy storage business, as can be seen in the current quarter’s commendable results, and we intend to keep this momentum going.
“With the new businesses mentioned above, which have kept us busy, we are cautiously optimistic that our prospect for the rest of the year will remain positive,” MMS Ventures said.
Meanwhile, Pentamaster executive chairman Datuk C.B. Chuah said the group expected the 2024 financial year to be flat against 2023.
“The second half of 2024 is expected to be flat over the first half.
“We expect to perform better in the first half of 2025 as we have more than RM400mil of backlogged and new orders to deliver till the first half of 2025,” he said.
The orders comprised factory-automated solutions equipment and semiconductor test equipment used in the smart device segment to test sensors.
“Some 15% of the backlogged orders are from the smartphone-related industry.
“The smart device segment slowed significantly over the past two years, reducing its contribution to the group’s revenue to less than 10%.
“We are seeing gradual recovery now, and in 2025, we expect orders from the smartphone sector to increase,” Chuah added.
Meanwhile, Nikkei Asia reported that Apple ordered components and parts for 88 million and 90 million smartphones compared to last year’s initial component orders for around 80 million new iPhones.
Nikkei added that some component makers even received orders for over 90 million units, although they said that the iPhone maker usually placed a higher number of orders at first and later adjusted the figure after the product went on sale.
Apple is preparing for sales of its first iPhone with Apple Intelligence and generative AI features, which it believes will be a big hit.
In its mid-year total semiconductor equipment forecast released in July, SEMI forecast that the total semiconductor manufacturing equipment by original equipment manufacturers global sales will set a new record, hitting US$109bil in 2024 and growing by 3.4% yearly.
“Semiconductor manufacturing equipment growth is expected to continue in 2025, with sales forecast to set a new high of US$128bil in 2025, driven by both front-end and back-end segments.
“The growth in total semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales already underway this year is forecast to be followed by a robust expansion of roughly 17% in 2025,” SEMI said.
Connecticut-based Gartner research house reported that the semiconductor industry is entering a revenue recovery phase, following an 11.7% decline in 2023.
It projects that worldwide semiconductor revenue will grow 17.4% in 2024 and 13.7% in 2025 to cross the US$700bil milestone.
“Memory will lead 2024 growth at 70.5%, while non-memory segments will grow at 6.2%.
“Smartphone unit shipments will increase only 1.6% in 2024 due to continued weakness in consumers’ discretionary spending power,” Gartner said.
