11 May 2012

Kopin’s III-V revenue drops18% in Q1

For first-quarter 2012, Kopin Corp of Taunton, MA, USA, a supplier of III-V semiconductor products and microdisplays for mobile applications (including smartphones, tablet PCs, military thermal weapons sights and wearable computers), has reported total revenue of $25.2m, down 28% on both $34.9m a year ago and $35.2m last quarter, primarily reflecting a decline in military display revenue associated with expected reductions in US defense spending.

Revenue for display products was $10.9m, down 37% on $17.3m a year ago. Revenue from III-V products was $14.3m, down 19% on $17.6m a year ago.

Compared with net income of $2.4m last quarter, net loss was $2.2m - despite including about $0.9m gain related to the sale of stock of one of the firm’s investments - reflecting the impact of lower revenue partially offset by reduced operating expenses (as cost of goods sold fell by $4.6m and R&D expenses were cut by $1.3m, to $5.1m). Capital expenditure was $1.78m, up from $1.2m a year ago. During the quarter, cash and marketable securities fell from $105.4m to $102m.

“During the first quarter we consolidated our US display manufacturing activities to Westboro, MA, which enabled us to combine our two domestic III-V manufacturing plants into one facility and close the remaining site,” says president & CEO Dr John C.C. Fan. The consolidation resulted in a reduction in staffing of about 10%. “We completed the consolidation plan late in the first quarter of 2012 and therefore did not see the full expense reductions in the quarter,” he adds.

“In March we announced that Applied Physics Letters of the American Institute of Physics had published a paper on the record results we achieved with gallium nitride (GaN)-based high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) materials,” says Fan. “This research marks the first of what we expect to be several scientific papers on the performance characteristics of our GaN-based HEMT transistors,” he adds. “These devices hold significant promise in decreasing power consumption and improving efficiency in a variety of energy-related applications,” he believes.

For full-year 2012, Kopin continues to expect revenue of $110-120m, down about 12% on 2011.

See related items:

Kopin’s III-V revenue grows 12% in Q4/2011 to $17.4m

Kopin’s III-Vs revenue falls 3% in Q3

Kopin’s first-half III-V revenue up 10% year-on-year

Kopin’s Q1 revenue up 37% year-on-year to record $35m

Smart-phone demand drives 34% III-V revenue growth for Kopin in 2010

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