News
Oberthur mobile communication sales rise in first quarter
SIM and smartcard maker Oberthur Card Systems reported EUR 184.3 million of consolidated sales in the first quarter, up 8.8 percent on the year-earlier period. At constant exchange rates, the increase was 13 percent. In total, sales in mobile communications reached EUR 57.4 million in the first quarter.
Demand in the SIM market was sustained with 71 million SIM cards delivered during the quarter, a 58 percent increase compared to the same period a year ago. Sales in the SIM sub-segment amounted to EUR 51.5 million, up 29 percent year-on-year.
All regions grew strongly. In EMEA, demand was high in the Middle East and Africa. The Americas grew by almost 50 percent in volume, in particular in South America with strong demand in Brazil and Peru. Asia once again experienced strong year-on-year growth. Card deliveries more than doubled in units compared to the same period a year ago. Again this quarter in Asia, the ASP was stable year-on-year. Migration towards higher end products is in progress: all 16K cards have been converted to 32K or higher. Due to an increasing mix of Asian business, the average selling price for the segment was down 19 percent year-on-year, while region per region the decrease of ASP was in average only 9 percent.
Oberthur Technologies has once again confirmed its strong position in the high-end segment with 61 percent of its sales coming from Java product. The scratch card activity was in slight decrease year-on-year with sales at EUR 4.2 million in the first quarter. Volumes were up 5 percent at 108 million units delivered. Oberthur said its good market conditions to continue over the first half of 2008. In the second quarter, Card Systems forecasts sustained demand in the mobile segment and fair price conditions.