Stars Microelectronics (Thailand) expects its third-quarter sales revenue to increase 20 per cent from the previous three months following a recent jump in new orders.

CEO Polsak Lertputipinyo recently said the company's two main US customers, which are in the auto-parts industry, placed bigger orders for intelligent sensors for their tyre-pressure monitoring system (TPMS).

Their combined new orders will see SMT boost its TPMS-sensor production capacity to 3 million units this month and 3.5 million in November, from 2 million a month before.

The new orders are a result of new US automotive regulations, which make a TPMS mandatory in all new cars sold.

Sales of new cars in the US are expected to exceed 10 million this year. Each car requires five TPMS units: one for each of the four tyres plus the spare.

SMT has produced TPMS intelligent sensors for export to auto-parts manufacturers for more than 10 years now.

SMT's main businesses are production of integrated circuits, such as sensors for automotive and medical equipment; and microelectronic manufacturing, such as components for hard-disk drives and smart phones.

Polsak said SMT also enjoyed an increase in orders for hard-disk drives for laptop computers after its main customer, Western Digital, confirmed a 70-per-cent increase in its monthly orders from this month until the middle of next year.

SMT recorded average annual growth of 65 per cent in its net profit between 2005 and last year, when it posted a net profit of Bt201 million on revenue of Bt12.13 billion.

This year, the company posted a first-half net profit of Bt115 million on revenue of Bt4.59 billion.

Polsak added that due to the new orders and the peak season of the industry, second-half revenue would be up about 25 per cent from the first half.