Ramtron posts first quarter loss

Ramtron International Corp., a Colorado-Springs semiconductor maker, reported a net loss of $2.4 million for the first quarter of 2011, its largest loss in two years.

The loss is down from a net income of $415,000 for the first quarter of 2010. Company officials blamed the loss on problems getting a new production line in Vermont up and running.

“We made significant progress during the first quarter toward relieving our current supply constraints,” said Eric Balzer, Ramtron’s chief executive officer. “We are now working to expand our test capacity to support the increased wafer volume. Once we bring our wafer production into equilibrium with our test capacity during the second quarter, we will be in a position to satisfy our solid backlog of order and resume revenue growth.”

The company also named Ying Shiau as vice president of customer satisfaction. Shiau will be responsible for director Ramtron’s quality assurance program.

It also announced a new family of memory devices that include a 25 percent to 50 percent reduction in active current requirements and serial devices with up to 20 times faster access.

The company said that it has “made progress” to resolve supply chain issues.

“We are confident we will meet our guidance for revenue of $25 million for the first half of the year,” Balzer said. “But R & D investments are expected to remain above historical levels as we work quickly as possible to bring up our new manufacturing line. As a result, we anticipate a break-even or slightly profitable second quarter.”

Revenue for the full year is expected to be about $70 million, he said.

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