For the year ending December 31, Wolfson posted a net profit of $9.2m, up from $1.5m in 2002. Sales rose 125% to $75.7m, compared with $33.7m in 2002.
Chief executive David Milne said: This is the second year in a row we have doubled our turnover. Our growth is driven by demand from a host of new digital consumer products that need the high performance mixed-signal interfaces we supply.
Looking forward, Milne issued an optimistic outlook. In 2004 we are continuing to see a healthy build-up of our first half order book, and are excited by the interest customers are showing in our new products for multimedia mobile phones and digital cameras, he said.
Edinburgh, UK-based Wolfson has designed more than 200 chips for use in products such as digital cameras, DVD players, MP3 players and handheld devices. The semiconductors are produced by foundries in Asia.
The increased demand for portable, consumer audio and imaging products, as well as the roll-out of 3G phones is expected to benefit the company. Milne said many of the 3G mobile phones entering the market later this year would include Wolfson processors. One of its products enables high-quality audio to be recorded with video.
The company said it expects continued growth in the first half of 2004 in all product lines, with 25 new products scheduled for this year. Higher average selling prices were expected from its more integrated products, along with improved gross margins.
Wolfson said a patent dispute instigated by a US competitor, Cirrus Logic, had cost the company $700,000 in legal costs in 2003.
The company has bases in Edinburgh and Manchester, and has sales offices in San Diego, Taipei, and Yokohama. Wolfson employs 155 people, and has also invested in a new site at Edinburgh for the development of new products and is establishing a design center at Swindon.
This article is based on material originally published by ComputerWire
