Operator
大家好,欢迎参加奇景光电股份有限公司2025年第一季度财报电话会议。目前所有参会者均处于只听模式。稍后我们将进行问答环节,届时将提供相关说明。提醒一下,本次电话会议正在录音。现在,请允许我将会议转交给奇景光电投资者关系与公共关系主管Karen Tiao女士。Tiao女士,请开始。
Operator
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Himax Technologies, Inc. First Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. Now I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax. Ms. Tiao, go ahead, please.
Karen Tiao
欢迎各位参加奇景光电2025年第一季度财报电话会议。我是奇景光电投资者关系与公共关系主管Karen Tiao。今天与我一同出席的有奇景光电总裁兼首席执行官Jordan Wu,以及首席财务官Jessica Pan。在公司准备好的评论之后,我们预留了问答环节的时间。如果您尚未收到今日业绩发布的副本,请发送电子邮件至himx@mzgroup.us或hx_ir@himax.com.tw。您可以通过财经门户网站访问新闻稿,或从奇景光电网站www.himax.com下载。在开始正式发言之前,我想提醒各位,本次电话会议中的部分陈述,包括关于预期未来财务业绩和行业增长的陈述,均为前瞻性陈述,涉及诸多风险和不确定性,可能导致实际事件或结果与本次电话会议中描述的情况存在重大差异。风险因素列表可在公司向美国证券交易委员会提交的截至2024年12月31日财年的20F表格中,标题为'风险因素'的部分找到,该部分可能已修订。除公司2024年全年财务数据(已于2025年4月2日随公司20F表格提交给美国证券交易委员会)外,本次电话会议中包含的财务信息均为未经审计、按国际财务报告准则编制的合并数据。此类财务信息由内部生成,未经过我们年度合并财务报表所经历的相同审查和审核程序,包括内部审计程序和独立审计师的外部审计,可能与同期经审计合并财务信息存在重大差异。公司无义务因新信息、未来事件或其他原因而公开更新或修订任何前瞻性陈述。在今天的电话会议上,我将首先回顾奇景光电2025年第一季度的合并财务表现,然后介绍我们对第二季度的展望。随后Jordan将介绍我们业务的现状,之后我们将回答问题。您可以通过网络直播或电话在线提交问题。我们将基于国际财务报告准则回顾财务数据。尽管受农历新年假期影响通常会出现季节性放缓,但我们很高兴地宣布,我们第一季度的收入达到了2025年2月13日发布的预测范围的高端。毛利率符合指引,而利润则超出了指引范围。第一季度收入为2.151亿美元,环比下降9.3%,达到我们指引范围(下降8.5%至12.5%)的高端,但同比增长3.7%。毛利率为30.5%,符合我们约30.5%的指引,与上季度持平,高于去年同期的29.3%。同比增长主要得益于有利的产品组合和持续的成本优化。第一季度每稀释ADS利润为11.4美分,超出了9美分至11美分的指引范围,主要原因是运营费用较低。大尺寸显示驱动芯片收入为2500万美元,尽管处于季节性低迷期,但与上季度持平。这主要得益于中国政府旨在刺激国内消费的补贴政策所带动的需求。笔记本电脑和显示器IC销售额在第一季度均实现了两位数的稳健增长。相比之下,电视IC销售额如预期般下降,原因是客户在上个季度提前了库存采购。大尺寸面板驱动IC销售额占本季度总收入的11.6%,而上季度为10.5%,去年同期为15.1%。中小尺寸显示驱动芯片部门总收入为1.505亿美元,在典型的淡季中环比下降9.8%。然而,第一季度汽车驱动芯片销售(包括传统DDIC和TDDI)表现优于指引(指引为环比下降低十位数),仅从上季度下降个位数。环比下降反映了中国政府于2024年8月中旬宣布的以旧换新刺激政策效应减弱,而其他主要市场的需求保持稳定。第一季度汽车IC销售额同比增长近20%,反映出客户对奇景光电技术的持续依赖以及公司竞争护城河的实力。奇景光电的汽车业务(包括DDIC、TDDI、Tcon和OLED IC销售)在第一季度仍是最大的收入贡献者,占总销售额的50%以上。与此同时,智能手机和平板电脑驱动芯片销售在节日季低迷的情况下如预期般下降。中小尺寸驱动IC部门占本季度总销售额的70.0%,而上季度为70.3%,去年同期为69.5%。第一季度非驱动芯片销售额达到3960万美元,环比下降12.8%。环比下降主要归因于上个季度向一家领先投影仪客户的一次性ASIC Tcon出货缺失,以及汽车Tcon出货量在连续几个季度的强劲增长后有所放缓。尽管如此,奇景光电在汽车局部调光Tcon领域的地位仍然无可匹敌,并得到全球领先面板制造商、一级供应商和汽车制造商日益增加的验证和采用的支持。我们还有超过两百个设计获胜项目的强大渠道,这些项目将在未来几年逐步进入量产。非驱动产品占总收入的18.4%,而上季度为19.2%,去年同期为15.4%。第一季度运营费用为4570万美元,环比下降7.0%,同比下降9.8%。在持续的宏观经济挑战下,我们正在严格执行预算和费用控制。第一季度营业利润为1980万美元,占销售额的9.2%,而上季度为9.7%,去年同期为4.8%。环比下降主要是销售额下降的结果,但被较低的运营费用所抵消。同比增长主要得益于销售额增长、毛利率改善以及运营费用降低。第一季度税后利润为2000万美元,即每稀释ADS 11.4美分,而上季度为2460万美元,即每稀释ADS 14美分,去年同期为1250万美元,即每稀释ADS 71美分。现在来看我们的资产负债表。截至2025年3月31日,奇景光电拥有2.81亿美元的现金、现金等价物及其他金融资产。去年同期为2.774亿美元,上季度为2.246亿美元。奇景光电在第一季度实现了5600万美元的强劲正经营现金流。截至2025年3月31日,奇景光电有3300万美元的长期无担保贷款,其中600万美元为流动部分。截至2025年3月31日的季度末库存为1.299亿美元,低于上季度的1.587亿美元和去年同期的2.019亿美元。自新冠疫情导致行业供应短缺期间达到峰值以来,我们的库存水平已连续十个季度稳步下降。由于宏观经济不确定性影响了整个生态系统的能见度,我们将继续保守地管理库存。2025年3月底的应收账款为2.175亿美元,低于上季度的2.368亿美元,但略高于去年同期的2.123亿美元。季度末的应收账款周转天数为91天,而上季度为96天,去年同期为93天。第一季度资本支出为520万美元,而上季度为320万美元,去年同期为270万美元。第一季度资本支出主要用于我们IC设计业务的研发相关设备,以及奇景光电台南3总部附近为员工子女新建幼儿园的持续建设。该幼儿园计划于2026年开放,这强化了我们致力于打造家庭友好型工作场所的承诺。在今天的电话会议之前,我们宣布了年度现金股息为每ADS 37.0美分,总计6450万美元,将于2025年7月11日支付,派息率为上一年利润的81.1%。奇景光电将继续专注于维持健康的资产负债表,同时推动可持续的长期增长,通过高股息和股票回购为股东创造价值。截至2025年3月31日,奇景光电有1.749亿股流通ADS,与上季度持平。按完全稀释基础计算,第一季度流通ADS总数为1.751亿股。现在来看2025年第二季度指引。我们预计第二季度收入将环比下降5.0%至增长30%。毛利率预计约为31%,具体取决于产品组合。第二季度归属于股东的利润估计在每完全稀释ADS 8.5美分至11.5美分之间。现在我将电话交给Jordan,请他讨论我们对2025年第二季度的展望。Jordan,请发言。
Karen Tiao
Welcome, everyone, to the Himax first quarter 2025 earnings call. My name is Karen Tiao, Head of IR/PR at Himax. Joining me today are Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jessica Pan, Chief Financial Officer. After the company's prepared comments, we have allocated time for questions in the Q&A section. If you have not yet received a copy of today's results release, please e-mail himx@mzgroup.us or hx_ir@himax.com.tw. Access the press release on financial portals or download a copy from Himax’s website at www.himax.com. Before we begin the formal remarks, I would like to remind everyone that some of the statements in this conference call, including statements regarding expected future financial results and industry growth, are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in this conference call. A list of risk factors can be found in the company's SEC filings, Form 20F for the year ended December, 31, 2024, in the section entitled Risk Factors, as may be amended. Except for the company's full year 2024 financials, which were provided in the company's 20F and filed with SEC on April 2, 2025, the financial information included in the conference call is unaudited and consolidated and prepared in accordance with IFRS accounting. Such financial information is generated internally and has not been subjected to the same review and scrutiny, including internal auditing procedures and external audits by independent auditors, to which we subject our annual consolidated financial statements and may vary materially on audited consolidated financial information for the same period. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. On today's call, I will first review the Himax consolidated financial performance for the first quarter of 2025, followed by our second quarter outlook. Jordan will then give an update on the status of our business, after which we will take questions. You can submit your questions online through the webcast or by phone. We will review our financial on an IFRS basis. Despite the typical seasonal slowdown due to Lunar New Year holidays, we are pleased to announce that our Q1 revenue was at the high end of projected rate issued on February 13, 2025. Gross margin remained in line with the guidance, while profit exceeded the guidance range. First quarter revenue registered $215.1 million a decrease of 9.3% sequentially, reaching the high end of our guidance range of a decline of 8.5% to 12.5%, but representing a 3.7% increase year-over-year. Gross margin was 30.5%, in line with our guidance of around 30.5%, flat from last quarter and up from 29.3% in the same period last year. The year-over-year increase was driven by available product mix and continued cost optimization. Q1 profit per diluted ADS was 11.4 cents exceeding the guidance range of 9 cents to 11 cents primarily due to lower operating expenses. Revenue from large display drivers came in at $25.0 million, flat from last quarter despite the seasonal downturn. This was primarily driven by demand spurred by Chinese government subsidies aimed at reviving domestic consumption. Notebook and monitor IC sales both recorded solid double-digit growth in Q1. In contrast, TV IC sales declined as expected, due to customers pulling forward their inventory purchases in the prior quarter. Sales of large panel driver ICs accounted for 11.6% of total revenues for the quarter, compared to 10.5% last quarter and 15.1% a year ago. Revenue from the small and medium-sized display driver segment totaled $150.5 million, reflecting a sequential decline of 9.8% amid a typical low season. However, Q1 automotive driver sales, including both traditional DDIC and TDDI, outperformed guidance of a low-teens sequential decline, declining just single digit from the last quarter. The sequential decline reflected the waning effect of the Chinese government’s renewed trade-in stimulus, announced in mid-August 2024, while demand in other major markets remained stable. Q1 2 auto IC sales rose nearly 20% year-over-year, reflecting ongoing customer reliance on Himax’s technology and the strength of company’s competitive moat. Himax’s automotive business, comprising DDIC, TDDI, Tcon, and OLED IC sales, remained the largest revenue contributor in the first quarter, representing more than 50% of total sales. Meanwhile, both smartphone and tablet driver sales declined as expected amid a subdued festival season. The small and medium-sized driver IC segment accounted for 70.0% of total sales for the quarter, compared to 70.3% in the previous quarter and 69.5% a year ago. Q1 non-driver sales reached $39.6 million, a 12.8% decrease from the previous quarter. The sequential decline was primarily attributable to the absence of a one-time ASIC Tcon shipment to a leading projector customer in the prior quarter, coupled with a moderation in automotive Tcon shipments after several quarters of robust growth. That being said, Himax’s position in local dimming Tcon for automotive remains unrivaled, supported by increasing validation and adoption from leading panel makers, Tier 1 suppliers, and automotive manufacturers around the world. We also have a robust pipeline of over two hundred design-win projects that are set to gradually enter mass production in the coming years. Non-driver products accounted for 18.4% of total revenues, as compared to 19.2% in the previous quarter and 15.4% a year ago. First quarter operating expenses were $45.7 million, a decrease of 7.0% from the previous quarter and a decline of 9.8% from a year ago. Amid ongoing macroeconomic challenges, we are strictly enforcing budget and expense controls. First quarter operating income was $19.8 million or 9.2% of sales, compared to 9.7% of sales last quarter and 4.8% of sales for the same period last year. The sequential decrease was mainly the result of lower sales, offset by lower operating expenses. The year-over-year increase resulted primarily from higher sales, improved gross margins, and lower operating expenses. First-quarter after-tax profit was $20.0 million, or 11.4 cents per diluted ADS, compared to $24.6 million, or 14 cents per diluted ADS last quarter, and up from $12.5 million, or 71 cents in the same period last year. Turning to our balance sheet. Himax had $281 million of cash, cash equivalents and other financial assets as of March 31, 2025. This compares to $277.4 million at the same time last year and $224.6 million a quarter ago. Himax achieved a strong positive operating cash flow of $56 million for the first quarter. As of March 31, 2025, Himax had $33 million in long-term unsecured loans, with $6 million being the current portion. Our quarter-end inventories as of March 31, 2025 were $129.9 million, lower than $158.7 million last quarter and $201.9 million same period last year. Our inventory levels have steadily declined for ten consecutive quarters since peaking during the Covid 19 pandemic when the industry was undergoing a supply shortage. As macroeconomic uncertainty impairs visibility across the ecosystem, we will continue to manage its inventory conservatively. Accounts receivable at the end of March 2025 was $217.5 million, down from $236.8 million last quarter but slightly up from $212.3 million a year ago. DSO was 91 days at the quarter end, as compared to 96 days last quarter and 93 days a year ago. First quarter capital expenditures was $5.2 million, versus $3.2 million last quarter and $2.7 million a year ago. First quarter capex was mainly for R&D related equipment for our IC design business and ongoing construction of a new preschool near Himax’s Tainan 3 headquarters for children of employees. The preschool is scheduled to open in 2026, reinforcing our commitment to a family‑friendly workplace. Prior to today’s call, we announced an annual cash dividend of 37.0 cents per ADS, totaling $64.5 million and payable on July 11, 2025, with a payout ratio of 81.1% of the previous year's profit. Himax will continue to focus on maintaining a healthy balance sheet while driving sustainable long-term growth to deliver value for its shareholders through high dividends and share repurchases. As of March 31, 2025, Himax had 174.9 million ADS outstanding, unchanged from last quarter. On a fully diluted basis, the total number of ADS outstanding for the first quarter was 175.1 million. Now turning to the second quarter 2025 guidance. We expect second quarter revenues to decrease 5.0% to increase 30% sequentially. Gross margin is expected to be around 31% depending on the product mix. The second quarter profit attributable to shareholders is estimated to be in the range of 8.5 cents to 11.5 cents per fully diluted ADS. I will now turn the call over to Jordan to discuss our Q2 2025 outlook. Jordan, the floor is yours.
Jordan Wu
翻译中...
Jordan Wu
Thank you Karen. To start off, I would like to quickly comment on the recent abrupt and significant NT dollar appreciation against the US dollar, its impact on Himax’s Q2 financial results is limited and has been accounted for in the financial guidance for the quarter. All of Himax’s revenues and nearly all of our cost of sales are US dollar denominated, providing a natural hedge for its buying and selling activities. In addition, the bulk of our R&D expenses, save for employee salaries, are also US dollar based. For employee compensation, a major item of our operating expenses, while its employees are paid in the local currency of their location for their salaries, their bonuses are all US dollar based. Other major non-US dollar expenses, mostly NT dollar-denominated, include utilities and income tax expenses. While we don’t hedge for currency risk of our non-US dollar based operational expenses as the cost of such hedging would usually outweigh the benefit, we do purchase NT dollar in advance to cover the income tax payable, thereby minimizing the currency risk of a major expense item. Now I would like to comment on the recently announced US tariff measures which have intensified global trade tensions, triggered volatility in capital markets, and heightened macroeconomic and market demand uncertainty. Currently, tariffs have not had a significant direct impact on Himax’s business, as our IC products are not directly exported to the US. Instead, they are assembled into panels or modules by customers outside the United States and then sold into global markets, including the United States. Just a negligible portion, about 2% of Himax’s products are shipped directly to the United States. Only customers for these products are subject to US tariffs. Almost all of these products are manufactured in Taiwan. While some customers have requested early shipments to avoid tariff duties, many others have opted to defer their orders amid ongoing tariff-related uncertainties. Our conservative Q2 revenue guidance reflects the highly cautious stance of our customers in general toward the global economic outlook and end market demand amid ongoing tariff development. Looking into the second half of the year, overall market visibility remains low with the world continuing to closely monitor the development of tariff negotiations. As the tariff-driven supply chain restructuring gains momentum, Himax is deepening its well-established supply chain in Taiwan while further strengthening its supply chain presence in China, Korea, Singapore, and other regions to ensure production flexibility and cost competitiveness, and to better mitigate geopolitical risks. Amid the volatile macro environment, most panel customers have adopted a make-to-order model and are keeping inventories lean. In response, Himax is carefully monitoring wafer4 starts, maintaining low inventory levels, and rigorously controlling operating expenses. Concurrently, we are further optimizing costs by diversifying both foundry and backend packaging and testing, while mitigating risks and enhancing manufacturing flexibility. This approach is exemplified by the major milestone recently achieved in automotive display IC collaboration with Nexchip in China, with products now in mass production and adopted by leading automakers. This not only validates our diversified supply chain strategy but also underscores our steadfast commitment to scaling capacity and cost optimization. Turning to the automotive market. Automotive IC business currently accounts for half of Himax’s revenue. Having served the automotive display market for almost two decades, Himax has maintained a balanced global market share across major regions while demonstrating technological leadership and offering the industry’s most comprehensive suite of panel ICs, spanning LCD to OLED. Combined with over a decade of loyal relationships with global Tier 1 suppliers and automotive brands, these strengths help mitigate potential risks from tariffs and reinforce the long-term stability of Himax’s automotive business. In addition, Himax remains committed to a number of innovative fields, namely ultralow power AI, AR glasses, and co-packaged optics (CPO). Technologies in these areas are approaching maturity and offer substantial growth potential. As a pioneer and leader in key technologies enabling these novel areas, Himax is working closely with supply chain partners, from technology development through to mass production, to actively expand new business opportunities. These innovative fields are relatively less affected by macroeconomic fluctuations, and customer development efforts have not slowed due to tariff uncertainties. Himax expects these businesses to contribute meaningfully to both revenue and gross margin in the years ahead. Despite the volatile geopolitical environment, Himax continues to actively explore high growth markets, establish close partnerships with industry-leading companies, and continue to expand its global footprint while developing long-term competitive advantages. In our latest cross-border cooperation the we established a three-party strategic alliance with Powerchip and Tata Electronics, a subsidiary of Tata Group, India's largest and most influential conglomerate. This collaboration combines Tata Electronics’ deep manufacturing and local supply chain integration strengths, Powerchip’s mature wafer manufacturing capabilities, and Himax’s leading display IC and WiseEye ultralow power AI sensing technologies to jointly create a powerful ecosystem. The collaboration echoes the “Make in India” strategy of the Indian government for high-tech areas while exploring the huge potential demand of the Indian market. With that, I’ll now begin with an update on the large Display Driver IC Businesses LDDIC. In Q2 2025, Himax anticipates large display driver IC sales to decline by a single digit sequentially, driven by customers’ pull forward orders placed in prior quarters, against the backdrop of Chinese government subsidies boosting domestic consumption. Monitor and notebook IC sales are expected to decrease in Q2, whereas TV IC sales are set to increase sequentially, driven by higher shipments to key end customers. Looking ahead in the notebook sector, we are observing a growing trend for premium notebooks to adopt OLED displays and advanced touch features, partially fueled by the rise of AI PC. Himax is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend, offering a comprehensive range of ICs for both LCD and OLED notebooks, including DDIC, Tcon, touch controllers, and TDDI. In addition, we are expanding its high-speed interface product portfolio to support faster data transfer rates, lower latency, and improved power efficiency, features that are critical for next-generation displays. We have made progress on the next-generation eDP 1.5 display interface for Tcon for both LCD and OLED panels. This high-speed interface supports high frame rates, low power consumption, adaptive sync, and high resolution, key features essential for next-generation AI PCs. Through ongoing portfolio expansion and continuous technology innovation, Himax is well-positioned to lead in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI PCs and premium notebooks. Turning to the small and medium-sized display driver IC business. In Q2 small and medium-sized display driver IC business is expected to decline single-digit from the last quarter. We expect Q2 automotive driver IC sales, including both TDDI and traditional DDIC, to decline mid-teens sequentially, reflecting the combined impact of tariffs and the waning effect of China’s automotive subsidy program. Despite these near-term headwinds, automotive TDDI adoption continues to expand across the globe, driven by growing demand for more intuitive, interactive, and cost-effective touch panel features essential in modern vehicles. Himax’s cumulative shipments of automotive TDDI have outpaced competitors, with nearly 500 design-in projects secured to date, the majority of which have yet to enter mass production. On top of a continuous influx of new pipelines and design wins across the board, Himax is well-positioned for continued growth, further reinforcing our leadership in this space. For automotive DDIC, we continue to see solid shipment volume for automotive DDICs for non-touch applications including cluster displays, HUDs, and rear- and side-view mirrors. Our confidence is further strengthened by the growing proliferation of advanced technologies, such as LTDI or Large Touch and Display Driver Integration in large-display car models. Himax is a pioneer in LTDI technology, which supports seamless, integrated large touch display panels, typically larger than 30 inches or spanning pillar-to-pillar across the entire width of the cockpit. LTDI also features high-density touch functionality for responsive performance, making it ideal for next-generation smart cabin designs that emphasize large displays and intuitive touch interaction. Additionally, we are seeing an increasing number of customers choosing to adopt our integrated LTDI and Tcon solution as the standard platform for their ultra large automotive display development. Such panels typically require four or more LTDI chips and at least one local dimming Tcon per panel. This growing platform adoption of more of Himax’s automotive IC offerings not only reflects strong customer loyalty to our technologies but also signifies an increase in content value for Himax on a per-panel basis. Multiple projects with global leading car brands are set to begin mass production starting the end of 2025. Himax continues to lead the global automotive display market, holding a 40% share in DDIC, over 50% in TDDI, and an even higher share in cutting-edge local dimming Tcon technologies. Moving to smartphone IC sales, we expect Q2 smartphone IC revenues to decline mid-teens from last quarter, while tablet IC sales are poised to grow by high teens sequentially, driven by renewed demand from leading customers following several quiet quarters. In the automotive OLED market, Himax has forged strategic alliances with leading panel makers in Korea, China, and Japan. As OLED technology expands beyond premium car models, Himax is well positioned to become the partner of choice and accelerate OLED adoption in vehicles by capitalizing on its strong presence and proven track record in automotive LCD displays. Leveraging our first mover advantage, we offer a comprehensive suite of solutions, including DDIC, Tcon, and on-cell touch controllers. It's worth noting that our advanced OLED on-cell touch-control technology boasts an industry-leading signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 45 dB, delivering reliable performance even under challenging operational conditions such as glove wearing or wetfinger. The solution entered mass production in 2024, and an increasing number of leading global brands are rapidly adopting it for their premium car models. We expect to be a key beneficiary of the shift to OLED displays for the automotive industry over the next few years, unlocking a new growth driver for us that further reinforces our market leadership. In addition, we have expanded its comprehensive OLED portfolio into the tablet and notebook markets, covering DDIC, Tcon, and touch controllers, through partnerships with leading OLED panel makers in Korea and China. Several new projects are slated to enter mass production with top-tier brands later this year. Meanwhile, Himax is developing value-added features, such as active stylus and gaming models to further enhance our product differentiation and competitive edge. In the smartphone OLED market, we are making solid progress in our collaborations with customers in Korea and China and expect mass production to start later this year. I would now like to turn to our non-driver IC business. Q2 non-driver IC revenues are expected to increase low teens sequentially. First an update on our Tcon business. We anticipate Q2 2025 Tcon sales to increase high teens sequentially, primarily due to increased shipment of Tcon for notebook and automotive products. Automotive Tcon sales are set to increase by double digit in Q2, fueled by a strong pipeline of over two hundred design-win projects gradually entering mass production. With a steady influx of new projects, coupled with growing validation and widespread adoption of our local dimming Tcon in both premium and mainstream car models worldwide, Himax continues to maintain an unchallenged leadership position with a dominant market share. In the second quarter, we expect Tcon business to account for over 12% of total sales, with notable contributions from automotive Tcon. Meanwhile, head-up-display or HUD is emerging as a major growth area within automotive displays, where local dimming Tcon adoption is accelerating. Our industry-leading local dimming Tcon eliminates the “postcard effect” often seen in HUDs, caused by backlight leakage typical of conventional TFT LCD panels, delivering crisp, high‑fidelity images on the windshield. Additionally, it features advanced transparency detection to prevent the display from obstructing the driver’s view, thereby ensuring driving safety. With several HUD projects already underway and increasing inquiries, we are excited about the potential opportunity ahead. Our automotive Tcon business is well positioned for growth over the next few years. WiseEyeTM Ultralow Power AI Sensing On the update of Switching gears to the WiseEye™ ultralow power AI sensing solution, a cutting-edge endpoint AI integration featuring industry-leading ultralow power AI processor, always-on CMOS image sensor, and CNN-based AI algorithm. In the rapidly evolving AI landscape, WiseEye AI technology stands out for its expertise in on‑device AI, characterized by remarkably low power consumption, operating at just single‑digit milliwatts, and enabling AI functionality in battery‑powered endpoint devices. Additionally, WiseEye AI significantly extends battery life and improves overall data processing efficiency by offloading tasks from the main processor. These attributes unlock new opportunities across a wide range of everyday battery‑powered endpoint applications, evidenced by broad adoption of WiseEye AI across diverse applications, including notebooks, tablet, smart door locks, surveillance systems, access control, smart retail and many others. On notebook, building on the success with Dell notebooks, WiseEye AI is expanding into additional use cases across other leading notebook brands, with some entering production later this year and expanding further into 2026. The growing adoption is further fueled by the rise of AI PCs, as WiseEye’s ultralow power, on-device inference capabilities align seamlessly with the industry’s shift toward more intelligent, context-aware, and energy-efficient computing. WiseEye’s advanced local inferencing technology enables real-time, high precision user engagement detection by analyzing presence and motion, supporting a broad set of intelligent features, such as head pose estimation, gaze tracking, facial expression recognition, voice command, adaptive screen dimming, secure identity authentication and many others. These features enhance interactivity and user comfort without compromising battery life or system performance, making it fit for the demands of high performance and energy efficient next-generation AI PCs. WiseEye also continues to achieve significant market success across various sectors such as smart door lock where we introduced the world’s first smart door lock with 24/7 sentry monitoring and real-time event recording. We are now expanding globally by collaborating with a number of leading door lock makers worldwide to integrate a suite of innovative AI features, including palm vein biometric access, parcel recognition, and anti-pinch protection. Several of these value-added solutions are slated for mass production later this year. WiseEye also powers smart retail, exemplified by Himax’s collaboration with E Ink on e‑Signage. Its always‑on AI detects viewer attributes, such as gender, appearance, and age, followed by real-time personalized ads and nearby product recommendations, creating immersive engagement that elevates the in‑store shopping experience. Next, for an update on our WiseEye module business. Equipped with pre-trained no-code or low-code AI, WiseEye modules simplify AI integration and support diverse use cases, including human presence detection, gender and age recognition, gesture recognition, face mesh, voice commands, thermal image sensing, palm vein authentication, and people flow management. Among them, the Himax PalmVein module has generated strong engagement across several industries. Multiple design wins have been secured, with mass production underway by global customers for smart access, workforce management and smart door lock, as we continue to explore additional application opportunities. Meanwhile, to meet growing demand for flexible access control in varied settings, the upgraded WiseEye PalmVein suite now combines palm‑vein recognition and facial recognition with peephole‑camera input, underpinned by an advanced liveness check for high‑precision, multi‑modal authentication. This upgraded PalmVein module not only enhances security by offering multiple layers of biometric verification but also ensures adaptability across a wide range of environments. These attributes make it particularly appealing to global brands looking to differentiate their products with enhanced security, greater user convenience, and flexible customization. We anticipate increasing sales contribution from WiseEye PalmVein across a diverse array of applications starting next year and are excited about its long-term growth potential. Looking ahead, WiseEye is poised to scale rapidly across the broader AIoT market and emerge as a key growth driver for Himax in the years ahead. Separately, we are bringing intelligent, ultralow power, always‑on AI sensing to AR glasses. Powered by real‑time, context‑aware AI running at single‑digit‑milliwatt, WiseEye uniquely delivers the two essentials for AR devices- instant responsiveness and all‑day battery life. These advantages have already led to WiseEye AI being adopted by a leading AR glasses platform, with ongoing engineering engagements involving several other prominent global AR tech names for their upcoming AR glasses. WiseEye supports always-on outward sensing, enabling AR glasses to detect and analyze the surrounding environment in real time. This empowers instant response and key functionality such as object recognition, navigation assistance, translation, and environmental mapping, greatly enhancing the overall AR experience. WiseEye also enables precise inward sensing, detecting subtle eye movements, gaze direction, pupil size, and blinking, providing critical data for more intuitive and natural user interactions in AR applications. Next on WLO. In June 2024, Himax, in partnership with FOCI, a world leader in silicon photonics connectors, unveiled a state-of-the-art silicon photonics packaging technology, a critical technology to enable co-packaged optics (CPO) technology. This innovation of CPO integrates silicon photonic chips and optical connectors within multi-chip modules (MCM), replacing traditional metal wire transmission with high-speed optical communication. The technology significantly enhances bandwidth, boosts data transmission rates, reduces signal loss and latency, lowers power consumption, and significantly minimizes the size and cost of MCM. Currently, sample shipments of our first-generation silicon photonics packaging solution for engineering validation and trial production are proceeding as planned, with volumes set to increase in the coming quarters. In addition, Himax continues to advance its technology roadmap in close collaboration with FOCI, top-tier AI companies, and foundry partner through the joint development of future-generation CPO solutions to meet the escalating bandwidth requirements driven by AI and HPC applications. We is pleased to see our partner, FOCI, achieving significant advancements in silicon photonics packaging, with notable improvements in automated production and testing. Together, we are actively progressing in process validation and yield optimization to enable full-scale production for leading AI customers. Himax is exceptionally positioned to capitalize on future growth opportunities in high-performance computing, AI inference, and data center markets. Alongside the CPO progress, certain global technology leaders are now engaging our WLO expertise to develop next‑generation waveguides for AR glasses, a testament to the market’s growing confidence in Himax’s WLO technology. With strong growth opportunities from CPO and AR glasses in the making, we are optimistic as ever that our WLO business can emerge as a significant revenue and profit engine in the years ahead. Moving on to our latest advancement in LCoS microdisplay technology. At Display Week 2025 next week in San Jose, we will debut our ultra-luminous, miniature Dual-Edge Front-lit LCoS microdisplay. This industry-leading solution integrates both the illumination optics and LCoS panel into an exceptionally compact form factor, as small as 0.09 cc, and weighing only 0.2 grams, while targeting up to 350,000 nits brightness and 1 lumen output at just 250mW maximum total power consumption, demonstrating unparalleled optical efficiency. The luminance breakthrough ensures excellent eye-level visibility even in bright ambient conditions, while its compact form factor enables the development of sleek, everyday AR glasses. With industry-leading compact form factor, superior brightness and power efficiency, it is ideally suited for next-generation AR glasses and head-mounted displays where space, weight, and thermal constraints are critical. Growing collaborations with leading global tech companies are underway. Himax is confident that our technological advancements will help revitalize the AR glasses market, drive its expansion, and unlock new possibilities for immersive visual experiences. That concludes my report for the quarter. Thank you for the interest in Himax, we appreciate your joining today. We are ready to take questions.
Operator
谢谢吴董事长。女士们、先生们,我们现在进入问答环节。[接线员指示] 谢谢。我们确实有几个来自线上的问题。
Operator
Thank you, President Wu. And ladies and gentlemen, we are now in question and answer session. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. We do have a couple of questions from the online.
Unidentified Analyst
第一个问题是,您能否解释一下CPO的验证流程?
Unidentified Analyst
The first question is, could you explain the validation process for CPO?
Jordan Wu
验证流程目前由FOCI和我们自己、我们的主要客户以及我们的代工合作伙伴共同进行。目前这项工作正在进行中。该流程主要涉及我们当前一代产品以及新开发设备的验证,包括产品生产所需的制造、组装和测试设备。这些设备还包括FAU的制造设备以及FAU与同批次产品共同生产的设备。这将是一个挑战,因为不仅是产品,制造工艺也都是全新的。这主要是由奇景光电和FOCI内部开发的。然而,我们相信流程进展顺利,并对我们技术的成功验证充满信心。我不想确切评论何时完成,尽管确实有明确的时间表——我只能说不会太遥远。一旦验证流程完成,特别是产能的立即扩张,这不会花费很长时间。这样我们就能为明年的量产计划做好准备。在我们的准备发言中,我们提到奇景光电向FOCI的样品出货量预计将在今年逐季度增加,到第四季度将达到数百万美元的规模。这些样品出货正是为了此类验证目的。一旦验证完成,我们当然会开始下一阶段,即试生产,确保一切顺利,并进行年度改进和优化。这就是我对第一个问题的回答。
Jordan Wu
The validation process is now being conducted by FOCI and ourselves, our leading customer and our foundry partner. And it is a work in progress at the moment. And the process involve primarily the validation of our current generation of products as well as the newly developed equipment, including manufacturing, assembly and testing equipments involved for the production of the product. And the equipment also includes the manufacturing equipment for the FAU as well as the equipment for the funding of FAU together with the cohorts. So it's going to be a challenge because not just the products, but also the manufacturing process are brand new. And it's primarily in house development on the side of Himax as well as FOCI. However, we believe the process is going well, and we have good confidence on the successful validation of our technology. I don't want to comment exactly when, although certainly there is a timetable- all I can say is not very distant in the future. And once the validation process is concluded, then both the in particular immediate expansion of their capacity, which will not take a long time. And that's how we will get ourselves ready for the mass production schedule for next year. And in our prepared remarks, we mentioned that the support shipments from Himax to FOCI is slated to increase quarter by quarter this year and by Q4, it will reach in the amount of millions of dollars for Himax. And these sample shipments are actually exactly for the purpose of such validation. So once the validation is done and we will certainly start the next phase, which is trial production, try to make sure nothing is going to go wrong and also for yearly improvement and optimization. So that's my answer to the first question.
Unidentified Analyst
您对2025年有指引吗?我们如何看待下半年的需求?
Unidentified Analyst
Do you have a guidance for 2025? How do we see the demand into second half?
Jordan Wu
正如您所知,自我们IPO以来,我们从未提供过全年指引。我们确实会对观察到的趋势进行评论,但我们从不提供当季指引。因此,在当前时刻,尤其是在宏观经济不确定性如此之高的情况下,我们肯定不会这样做。不过,我还是要再次对下半年的能见度做一些定性评论。简而言之,众所周知,今年的能见度尤其低,特别是考虑到关税的不确定性。另外一点是,我们看到我们的客户确实存在担忧,尤其是对于中国的汽车需求,您会理解汽车目前约占我们总销售额的一半。在中国,经过几轮政府刺激计划后,我们的客户担心,旨在刺激两位数消费的进一步新政府计划可能不会像以前那样有效,因为消费者已经经历过好几次这样的刺激了。现在,我的意思是,每个人都意识到全球经济存在不确定性。因此,这是客户主要关注的领域,这也反映在我们第二季度相当保守的指引中,因为我们的客户表示,看看关税,关税谈判将如何展开,没人知道。另一件事是,中国政府不太可能推出新计划来提振整体经济。然而,该计划是否会像大约一年前推出的那个计划那样有效,那一次相当有效。今年的计划是否同样有效,这是一个主要问题。我们去年实际上能够实现汽车业务20%的增长,考虑到全球汽车销量最多只是持平,这已经相当不错了。但今年汽车销量将如何增长,实际上更难预测。不过,换句话说,目标仍然是今年至少保持这种增长。对于我们实现增长,我认为我们在新技术领域,即TDDI、TCOM和LPDI方面,实现增长相当有信心,因为我们在这些领域的领先地位和强大的设计中标渠道。我想再次指出,我们在这些新技术领域的全球市场份额始终超过50%。我们仍然看到这些新技术被积极采用。因此,在这方面,我们相当有信心。然而,根据全球汽车出货量,整体汽车出货量,我们可能会在传统DDIC领域看到一些下滑,因为它将继续被TDDI部分取代。不过,我也想指出,传统DDIC永远不会被TDDI完全取代,正如我们在智能手机市场所见证的那样,因为有时汽车显示屏,如仪表盘、侧视镜、后视镜和SUV,永远不需要触摸功能。因此,提醒一下,作为传统DDIC市场的领导者,我们也享有约40%的全球市场份额。
Jordan Wu
As you know, we since our IPO, we never provided full year guidance. And we do comment on the trend we are seeing, but we never we never provide the immediate quarter guidance. So we are certainly not doing that at this moment, especially when the macro uncertainty is so high. And I would, however, again, make a certain qualitative comment on the visibility of the second half. And in short, this year is of particularly low visibility as we all know, especially with tariff uncertainties. And another thing is we are seeing our customers are indeed, especially for the auto demand in China, and you'll appreciate auto accounts for now about half of our total sales. In China, after quite a few rounds of government stimulus programs, our customers are worried that further new government program targeted to stimulate double digit consumption may not be as effective as before, because consumers have been through quite a few of such things. And now, I mean, everybody is aware of the global uncertainty in macro economy. So that is a major concern area for customers and that is reflected in our Q2 rather conservative guidance because our customers are saying, see, for the tariff, how the tariff negotiation is going to unfold, nobody knows. And then another thing is sure, Chinese government is in no likelihood is going to launch new programs to boost the whole economy. However, whether that program will be as effective like the one program that was launched exactly about a year ago, That was quite effective. Whether this year's program will be as effective is a major or not. We start so we were actually able to grow our automotive business by 20% last year, which was quite good considering the global auto sales was only about flat at best. But it is actually harder to predict how the auto sales will grow this year. Although, in other words, target is still to at least shift that growth this year. And for us to achieve the growth, I think we are fairly confident in achieving growth in new technology areas, i.e. TDDI, TCOM and LPDI, because our pioneering position and the strong design win pipelines in these areas. And I would just point out again that our market share in these new technology areas are always above 50% globally. And we are still seeing aggressive adoption of such new technology. So in this area, we are fairly confident. However, depending on the global automotive shipment, the overall automotive shipment, we may see some decline in the traditional DDIC area as it will continue to be partially replaced by TDDI. However, I would also like to point out the traditional DDIC were never be totally replaced by TDDI as we witnessed in the smartphone market because sometimes the automotive display such as dashboard, side mirror, rear mirror and SUV will never need touch functionality. So as a reminder, we also enjoy about 40% global market share as data leader in the traditional DDIC market.
Unidentified Analyst
您能否评论一下Obsidian投资,这是另一个问题。
Unidentified Analyst
Would you comment on the Obsidian investment, that's another question.
Jordan Wu
Obsidian是一家总部位于澳大利亚悉尼的公司,专注于一种非常独特的专有热成像传感技术。我们之所以喜爱这家公司,是因为我们的技术与其完美契合——在其独特专有的设计中,他们的热传感器需要我们的CMOS图像传感器。同时,我们的光学解决方案也能有效优化其光学设计。此外,我们的超低功耗AI技术与其热成像传感解决方案完美匹配,因为热成像相比视觉成像(如我们的CMOS图像传感器)的优势相当明显。热成像的主要好处在于消除了隐私担忧,并且在夜间完全黑暗的环境下也能正常工作,对吧?这些正是CMOS图像传感器或RGB传感器的弱点所在。因此,我们看好这项投资,原因有三:其一,Obsidian的热成像技术是我们RGB传感器图像的良好补充;其二,这些关键组件实际上是我们能够供应并提供良好支持的;其三,我们的WiseEye特殊技术——超低功耗——是完美匹配。热成像结合超低功耗AI能够为我们的共同客户创造出极具说服力的应用场景。因此,我们正在共同开发新一代设计,并积极联合推广这项技术,无论是在贸易展会还是面向客户群体。我们相信,当Obsidian的热成像技术取得成功时——希望明年能看到——我们将开始看到有意义的量产规模。这是一项非常独特的专有技术,能以合理的低成本提供热成像与AI结合,同时提供合理的分辨率,其优势在于极低的信号和噪声水平。因此,其应用领域可以非常广泛。我们看到许多应用领域,特别是我提到的那些隐私为主要关注点或需要持续检测物体的场景。我们对此感到相当兴奋,并将密切合作。关于CPO相关产品,我们预计将有可观的收入贡献。我们在上次财报电话会议中提到,今年只会是初步贡献。虽然有意义,但与我们总销售额相比仍然微不足道。我们也指出,2026年将是量产的第一年,但我们不清楚具体时间,也不会就此发表评论。可以说,当正式量产开始时,贡献将是可观的。希望这能在明年实现。关于明年的具体时间,我们目前还不准备评论。我认为有些问题与我刚才提到的内容有些重复。目前CPO项目的关键瓶颈在于,我们需要完成产品和工艺验证。我认为这是主要的瓶颈所在。当然,我们的客户也有他们自己的技术挑战需要应对。但再次强调,我认为我们所有人的目标都是明年实现量产。我们对这一共同目标充满信心和期待。
Jordan Wu
Obsidian is a Sydney, Australia based company, specular as in a very unique proprietary thermal imaging sensing technology. And we love the company because our technology is a perfect fit because in a very unique and proprietary design, they are thermal sensor needs our CMOS image sensor inside. And our optical solution can also be very effective to improve their optical design. And in addition, our ultra-low power AI is a perfect fit for their thermal image sensing solution, because the benefit of thermal image thermal compared to visual imaging, such as our CMOS image sensor is quite clear. Thermal imaging has a major benefit of keeping privacy concern away and also it works well in total darkness in the evening, right? And that is certainly those are the weaknesses of CMOS image sensor or RGB sensor. So we love the investment because one, Obsidian thermal imaging is a very good supplement to our RGB sensor image. And also, there are key components actually, it's something we can supply, provide very good support for that. And also, our WiseEye special technology, ultra-low power is a perfect fit. Thermal imaging, together with ultra-low power AI can create very good very convincing applications for our joint customers. So we are together working on new generation of design, and we are proactively promoting the technology together, whether for trade shows or customer bases. And we believe Obsidian's thermal image when it's successful and hopefully, we are seeing next year, hopefully, we'll start to see meaningful volume. It's a very unique proprietary technology to offer thermal imaging together with AI with reasonable low cost, while offering reasonable resolution and point of their strength is very, very uniquely low signal, low noise. So their application can be universal. We are seeing many, many application areas, especially in those areas, as I mentioned, where privacy is a major concern or in the event, you need to continue to detect objects. So we are quite excited about this. And so we are going to work very closely. The sequential, we see meaningful revenue contribution from CPO related products. We mentioned in the last earnings call, this year will only be central contribution. So they are meaningful, but they are still negligible compared to our total sales. We also indicated next year, 2026 will be the first year of mass production. But we don't know and we are not going to comment exactly when. So I would say by the time it starts official mass production, the contribution will be meaningful. But so hopefully, that will be software next year. Exactly, for next year, again, we are not prepared to comment at this moment. I think that some questions are rather repetitive from the ones I just mentioned. The key bottleneck for the CPO project right now, again, we need to get the product and the process validated. And I think that's the key, the bottleneck. And certainly, our customers will have their own technical challenges to deal with. But again, I think it is everybody's objective that we are going to predict to mass production next year. And I think we are all quite confident and excited about this joint objective.
Jordan Wu
我想这就是我们目前收到的所有问题了。好的。最后,我们的投资者关系/公共关系主管Karen Tiao将继续负责投资者营销活动,并继续参加投资者会议。相关细节将在确定后公布。谢谢大家,祝大家有美好的一天。
Jordan Wu
I think that's about it for all the questions we received so far. Okay. So as a final note, Karen Tiao, our Head of IR/PR, will maintain investor marketing activities and continue to attend investor conferences. We'll announce the details as they come about. Thank you, and have a nice day.
Operator
谢谢吴总裁。女士们、先生们,2025年第一季度业绩电话会议到此结束。您现在可以断开连接。谢谢,再见。
Operator
Thank you, President Wu. And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes first quarter 2025 earnings conference. You may now disconnect. Thank you, and goodbye.