"MEMSIC's first-quarter results were driven by strong sales into the mobile phone market, which rose to $4.7 million from the prior-year period as the popularity of smartphones continued to expand worldwide," said Chairman, President and CEO Dr. Yang Zhao. "In addition, our magnetic sensor has been designed into additional phone models by a major global cell phone manufacturer. We turned in a strong performance in the automotive market, where sales rose 58% to $3.8 million from the first quarter of 2010. Sales in the industrial and consumer markets also grew, helping our first-quarter revenue performance top the guidance we provided in March."

Financial Highlights
•    Revenues rose to $13.0 million from $7.3 million in the first quarter of 2010.
•    Gross margin was 38.1% compared to 39.1% in the 2010 quarter.
•    Operating expenses, including R&D expense of $2.3 million, totaled $6.4 million compared to $5.4 million in the 2010 quarter.
•    GAAP net loss in the 2011 first quarter was $1.3 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared to net loss of $2.3 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the prior-year period. This includes $0.4 million in stock-based compensation in both the 2011 and 2010 periods.
•    EBITDA in the 2011 first quarter was ($0.2) million, compared to ($1.7) million in the 2010 period.

Recent Highlights
•    MEMSIC recently introduced a new magnetic sensor that features 2mm x 2mm x 1mm in size and is optimized for smartphone, tablet PC, gaming and other high volume consumer electronic applications. The new product's smaller size and cost, combined with MEMSIC's manufacturing capacity in China, are major competitive advantages for the company. Mass production of the new mag sensor is expected in the third quarter of 2011.
•    MEMSIC also introduced LOTUS, its next-generation mote platform, enabling higher performance, low power consumption and competitive pricing. The introduction reflects MEMSIC's mission of delivering innovative wireless sensor network products and solutions to enable its customers' growth.
Outlook
•    Revenue is expected to be between $13.0 million and $13.5 million for the second quarter of 2011.
•    GAAP net loss, including stock-based compensation of $0.4 million, is expected to be in the range of $0.05 to $0.06 per share for the second quarter of 2011.
•    Average diluted share count for the 2011 second quarter is estimated to be approximately 24 million.