July 25 -- Beijing Easpring Material Technology (300073) filed its revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders decreased 14.18 percent and 83.71 percent year-on-year to 314 million yuan and 2.73 million yuan for EPS of 0.0171 yuan in the first half, reports stcn.com.

Gross margins slumped due to major adjustments in product structures; the company solely offered lithium cobalt oxide but has since diversified to new lithium cobalt oxide and lithium manganate. Traditional products were supplied to traditional mobile phone makers like Nokia. Those types of orders fell steadily due to the impact of new smart phones such as the Apple iPhone.

The company also said that competition in the sector has grown more intense, hitting sales and lowering prices. Sales of Easpring’s new products were also poor, due to low utilization of new capacity and weak demand from Japanese customers.