Siliconix Inc. (Santa Clara, CA), a subsidiary of Vishay Intertechnology Inc. (Malvern, PA), reported net income of $11.9 million, or $0.40 per share, for the first quarter ended April 2, 2005. This is an increase of 19% over the net income of $10.0 million, or $0.33 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2004 and a decrease of 15% from the net income of $14.0 million, or $0.47 per share, in the first quarter of 2004.
Sales for the first quarter of 2005 were $103.5 million, a decrease of 3% from the $106.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2004, and 14% from the $120.7 million for the first quarter of 2004. The gross margin for the first quarter of 2005 was 28%, compared to 25% in the fourth quarter of 2004 and 30% in the first quarter of 2004.
Siliconix President and CEO King Owyang said, "Our bookings improved sequentially for the second consecutive quarter, even though our major distribution customers' inventory policies remain very conservative. One factor driving this phenomenon is that these distributors do not want to have a significant amount of lead-containing product on their shelves, as some of their customers have suddenly demanded lead-free products. This in turn creates challenging inventory management issues for us. We can make every product we sell in lead-free form, but not all end-users are ready for lead-free products."
