Tailwind from advancing tech: Taiyo Yuden eyes revenue surge from smartphone parts

Tailwind from advancing tech: Taiyo Yuden eyes revenue surge from smartphone parts

TOKYO — Electronic parts maker Taiyo Yuden aims to double revenue from its communications devices business to 58 billion yen ($480 million) by fiscal 2017, capturing climbing demand for parts used in LTE-compatible smartphones.

     The Japanese company seeks to ride the demand surge in China and elsewhere as data service employing Long-Term Evolution technology takes the stage. Depending on market conditions, the target may be upgraded to 70 billion yen or higher.

     LTE-compatible handsets use multiple radio bands. Filters to pick out specific bands are essential, in addition to other high-frequency components. Even with unit sales of smartphones having plateaued, demand for such parts is still rising as handsets incorporate more and more. “A high-end smartphone contains 20 of them,” a Taiyo Yuden official said.

     The company is strong in surface acoustic wave filters and film bulk acoustic resonator parts, which boast particularly high performance with high-frequency bands. It plans to double production capacity for FBAR offerings in fiscal 2015.

     Taiyo Yuden Mobile Technology will handle manufacturing at a plant in Ome, Tokyo. Taiyo Yuden acquired the former Hitachi semiconductor plant in 2014. Housing a clean room twice as large as that in an older Nagano Prefecture plant, the facility is suitable for the production ramp-up planned through fiscal 2017. Taiyo Yuden is seeking other sites for further output expansion.

(Nikkei)

Tailwind from advancing tech: Taiyo Yuden eyes revenue surge from smartphone parts