GaAs foundry Win Semiconductors expects to post a revenue increase of 7-9% sequentially in the third quarter of 2021, with gross margin ranging from 35% to 36%.

Win Semi has seen sales of its 5G power amplifiers rebound to over 20% as a proportion of its total cellular PA revenue, according to Steve Chen, company president of corporate administration. Win Semi enjoyed a double-digit sequential surge in handset PA revenue in the second quarter.

A ramp-up in demand from its China-based fabless chipmakers led to the ramp-up in sales of its 5G smartphone PAs, Chen indicated.

"After the third quarter of last year, we could no longer supply to our largest Chinese customer at that time due to the US-China trade conflict," Chen continued. "However, as we had previously expected, after the reshuffle of the smartphone end market, our strategy of diversifying customers has served us well again."

Meanwhile, Win Semi saw revenue generated from the infrastructure sector stay flat sequentially in the second quarter. The company reported net sales of nearly NT$6.2 billion (US$221.8 million) for the second quarter, up 3% on quarter and 2% from the same period in 2020.

Win Semi's gross margin and operating margin climbed 2.2pp and 2.8pp, respectively, on quarter to 35.7% and 22.7% in the second quarter. The company generated net profits of NT$930 million during the quarter, with EPS reaching NT$2.32.

Win Semi utilized about 90% of fab capacity in the second quarter. The company also disclosed its overall fab capacity will be maintained at 41,000 wafers monthly in 2021.