Tronics' 2012 income boosted by inertial sensor business
The company has invested significantly in new equipment and technologies and is specifically addressing submicron MEMS demands
Tronics closed a successful 2012 with total income of Euros (€)16.7 million ($ 22.1 million), €1.8 million in net profit ($ 2,4 million) and expanded its investments in submicron and glass technologies.
Peter Pfluger, CEO of Tronics said, "I am certainly pleased to report these excellent 2012 results, but more importantly, our teams have taken new custom MEMS projects to production".
Tronics' income exceeded expectations in 2012 thanks to strong growth of its high performance inertial sensor business, as well as a significant increase in its contract manufacturing customer base.
Tronics' traditional high performance inertial MEMS manufacturing business expanded significantly in both Europe and Asia. This growth was driven not only by the better economic conditions, but also by Tronics' 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 defence.
Its Dallas entity was particularly successful in winning new contracts with promising non-consumer MEMS volumes. 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.
Tronics Head office in Grenoble, France
2012 also yielded a solid balance sheet with close to €4 million cash and a debt/equity ratio below 35 percent. Thanks to these robust financial results, the company was able to invest significantly in new generation equipment and new technologies. It is specifically addressing submicron MEMS demand, glass-based MEMS applications, and is investing several million in a new nanowire-based inertial sensor technology that has the potential to be a game changer.
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.
Peter Pfluger, CEO of Tronics, commented, "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."
Tronics is an international, full-service MEMS manufacturer. With wafer fabs in France and the USA, and representation in Asia, Tronics provides local support to customers on three continents, and offers one of the broadest technology portfolios in the industry. Tronics' services range from MEMS design, to high-volume MEMS manufacturing.
The company builds reliable supply chains for delivery of MEMS ranging from wafers to integrated custom components, but also supports earlier phases of projects where prototyping is required. Founded in 1997, Tronics has more than 15 years of experience in developing, manufacturing, and packaging accelerometers, gyroscopes, micro-pumps, pressure sensors, switches, bio-detectors and many more MEMS.
