Wolfson sales up by half, but news fails to impress market

Revenues up thanks mainly to supplying components for Apple and Samsung

Tiny Edinburgh microchip maker Wolfson Microelectronics has reported a 52 per cent leap in revenues thanks to rising sales of smartphones such as Samsung’s Galaxy SIII, though the rise failed to impress investors with the company’s share price dropping more than 6 per cent in London yesterday [7th February 2013]. The company, which makes audio chips for processing voice input and audio output on phones and other electronic devices, said revenues rose to £35.8 million in Q4, while for 2012 as a whole revenue growth was 15 per cent, with a 60 per cent rise in sales related to smartphones and tablets.

Even so, shares in Wolfson closed at 185 pence, compared to 202 pence at the start.
Last October, by comparison, Wolfson’s shares leapt sharply to 210 pence after it was revealed that one of its chips could be found in Apple’s iPhone 5 cable.
The Wolfson chip in Apple’s adapter is said to be a simple digital to analogue converter, rather than Wolfson’s more expensive Audio Hub chip used in Samsung’s latest smartphone, the Galaxy SIII.
In the first half of last year Samsung orders accounted for just over a quarter of Wolfson’s revenues.

About Dave Evans

Dave Evans is a long established commentator on both the IT and cellular industries. His current focus is on share price trends within the sector. You can email him here
This article was published in Apple, Financial, Samsung, mobile news and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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