Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) is back on track. After falling alongside everyone else in 2008, the plucky chip designer (silicon, not potato) has risen to new all-time highs in sales and profits, and it looks like smooth sailing ahead.
Fourth-quarter sales grew 28% year over year to $127 million, while non-GAAP earnings shot up to $0.66 per share. Things look even brighter on the GAAP side of the street, but that's mostly thanks to a one-time tax credit that added $0.40 per share to the bottom line.
The company is busy promoting new TV tuners to makers of handsets and set-top boxes around the world. A typical seasonal pullback from Silicon Labs' large customer Samsung was more than counterbalanced by new contracts and ramp-ups elsewhere. The company didn't name the boosters specifically, but major customers include other multinational giants like Panasonic (NYSE:PC), Philips (NYSE:PHG), and Motorola (NASDAQ:MOT).
Silicon Labs recently realigned its divisions into a simpler and more cross-functional structure, hoping to extract cost-saving and innovation-boosting synergies from the new structure. I have a feeling that the company's advanced TV tuner chips could make their way into a number of mobile gadgets this year, which opens up whole new markets. The Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad won't ship with a TV tuner (among other missing features), but other mobile and tablet designers like Nokia (NYSE:NOK) or Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) might get it right -- and then Silicon Labs will be ready to power the mobile media magic. At this year’s CES, we witnessed Cydle’s tablet featuring a TV tuner; could larger manufacturers be far behind?
Do you think we'll see TV tablets (with Silicon Labs tuners inside) this year or next -- or not at all? Open your heart (gently) in the comment box below.
