5 January 2012

RFMD’s December-quarter revenue 10% below forecast

RF Micro Devices Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA has provided a quarterly financial update for its third fiscal quarter 2012 (ended-December 2011). Revenue was about $225m, down 7.7% on last quarter’s $243.8m and down 19% on $278.8m a year ago. This is also 10% below the $250m that was forecast in early November.

In RFMD’s Multi-Market Products Group (MPG), revenue was about $46m, reflecting broad weakness in MPG's end markets. In RFMD’s Cellular Products Group (CPG), revenue was about $179m, as 16% sequential growth in sales of components for 3G/4G smartphones was counter-acted by lower-than-expected sales of 2G components to China-based customers for entry-level handsets. The firm notes that customer demand softened during the quarter, with end-of-quarter 2G demand significantly below customer forecasts.

Due to the lower revenue, lower factory utilization, and inventory reserves, RFMD anticpates gross margin for the December quarter down about 9 percentage points sequentially (from last quarter’s non-GAAP gross margin of 39.1%).

“RFMD is navigating broadly lower demand in 2G handsets and softness across MPG’s markets,” says president & CEO Bob Bruggeworth. “Despite this challenging macro environment, RFMD is winning new business with industry-leading products and technologies, and we fully expect to grow in fiscal 2013, supported by market share gains, new product launches, and expanding relationships with both channel partners and customers,” he adds.

In the March quarter, RFMD anticipates normal seasonality in the handset industry and in MPG's end markets. The firm will provide additional guidance in its quarterly earnings announcement on 24 January.

See related items:

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RFMD’s quarterly revenue grows 12% year-on-year to record $285.8m

Tags: RFMD

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