Tronics said that this week that its revenues and profits exceeded expectations in 2012 due to strong growth of its high performance inertial sensor business, as well as a significant increase in its contract manufacturing customer base. The MEMS foundry services company, based in France, reported 2012 revenues of $22.1 million and profits of $2.4 million. Tronics also said that it expanded its investments in submicron and glass technologies.
The company's traditional high performance inertial MEMS manufacturing business expanded significantly in both Europe and Asia. According to Tronics, this growth was driven not only by the better economic conditions, but also by its growing reputation as a key player in the field.
The company was also able to add several important customers to its contract manufacturing portfolio with applications in a variety of markets such as medical diagnostics, RF MEMS, industrial sensors, consumer goods, and defense. Its Dallas, Texas division was particularly successful in winning new contracts with promising non-consumer MEMS clients. Tronics said that this product diversity is very positive in terms of risk management, in the current global MEMS industry, which is heavily dependent on consumer inertial MEMS based sensors.
Last calendar year also yielded a solid balance sheet with close to $5.25 million in cash and a debt/equity ratio below 35 percent. Due to these robust financial results, the company was reportedly able to invest significantly in the next generation equipment and new technologies. Tronics is specifically addressing submicron MEMS demand, glass based MEMS applications, and is investing several million dollars in a new nanowire-based inertial sensor technology that has the potential to be a game changer.
"I am certainly pleased to report these excellent 2012 results, but more importantly, our teams have taken new custom MEMS projects to production. I am confident that together with our customers we will grow some of these businesses to significant volumes in the coming years," commented Peter Pfluger, CEO of Tronics.
With wafer fabs in France and the USA, and representation in Asia, Tronics provides MEMS foundry and contract manufacturing services. Tronics' services range from MEMS design, to high-volume MEMS manufacturing. Founded in 1997, Tronics has developed, manufactured, and packaged accelerometers, gyroscopes, micro-pumps, pressure sensors, switches, bio-detectors and other types of MEMS devices.
The company now employs more than 80 people, and believes it is well positioned to continue broadening its customer base in the coming 2 years.
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