Texas Instruments (TXN) or "TI” launched lithium-ion battery charger integrated circuits (ICs) that will cut down charging time of smart devices by 50%.
TI’s new 4.5-A battery charger ICs are a part of its bq2419x family of 4.5-A output, 20-V input-rated switch-mode chargers that enable quick charging and can be used in a variety of devices such as 4G LTE routers, Wi-Fi speakers, portable medical and industrial designs. The product is expected to benefit TI as it has wide application and is not restricted to smart devices alone.
TI’s new ICs facilitate quick charging for single-cell lithium battery packs. It also enables cooler charging and complies with European Star and European Union charging specifications.
Currently, smart devices are in great demand among consumers and are used not just for calling, but also other purposes like listening to music, using maps to move around, using social networking sites like Facebook (FB) and Twitter to chat, among others.
According to a report by IDC, 219.4 million smartphones were shipped in 2012. Samsung was the largest player with 63.7 million units (29% market share) in the fourth quarter of 2012. Its 76% jump from the year-ago quarter helped it topple Apple Inc. (AAPL), which shipped 47.8 million units, followed by Huawei, Sony (SNE) and others.
IDC estimates that 52.5 million tablets were shipped in 2012, a 75.3% jump from the year-ago quarter. Apple led the market followed by Samsung, Amazon and others.
Further, as per another report by IDC, smartphone shipments will grow 95.9% from 2012 to 2016 to touch 1.405 billion units. Tablets are expected to grow even faster (131.2%) during this period touching 282.7 million units. The solid growth prospects in these two markets coupled with TI’s market position will likely help sales of TI’s battery chargers.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, TI generated total revenue of $2.98 billion, down 12.1% sequentially and 12.9% year over year (slightly better than the mid-point of the recently-narrowed guidance range of $2.89 billion to $3.01 billion). The Analog business fell 9.4% sequentially and 1.5% year over year. The sequential decline was attributable to broad-based weakness across the HVAL, HPA, SVA and power management product lines.
Texas Instruments has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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