| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 7:28:53 AM | | | | | | Largan expects one quarter delay in shipments due to [chip] component shortages
Rebecca Kuo, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES
Friday 9 April 2021
Smartphone-use lens module maker Largan Precision expects delays of at least one month for its shipments due to short supply of CMOS image sensors and application processors, according to company CEO Lin En-ping.
Lin said the sensor supply chain has even been forced to suspend production for some high-resolution models.
But the delays in Largan's shipments will not result in changes to its product pricing that has already been set in the contracts with clients, Lin indicated.
Due to the components shortages, Largan expects April consolidated revenues to decline sequentially and the impact will remain in May, Lin said.
While 7P lens modules have been increasingly adopted for smartphone models, 8P models require stricter technological specifications for the time being, Lin noted, adding 9P ones are in design-in process but may not be adopted in 2021, Lin indicated.
Largan has begun shipping automotive lens modules in small volumes and will increase shipments if gross margins rise to reasonable levels, Lin said.
Of lens modules shipped in the first quarter, 20-megapixel and above models accounted for 20-30%; 10- to below 20-megapixel, 50-60%; 8- to below 10-megapixel, 0-10%; and below 8-megapixel, 10-20%. |
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| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 7:37:03 AM | | | | | | Backend houses see order visibility for CIS, sensor chips through 4Q21
Julian Ho, Taipei; Willis Ke, DIGITIMES
Friday 9 April 2021
Backend houses continue to enjoy strong demand for processing IP camera chips and CMOS image sensor (CIS) chips, with their order visibility clear through the fourth quarter of 2021, according to industry sources.
Also:
Strong sensor demand to buoy suppliers in 2021
Julian Ho, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES
Wednesday 7 April 2021
Demand for CMOS image sensor (CIS) and other sensors is set to be robust this year, driven by a surge in demand for video conferencing, security surveillance and automotive electronics applications, and benefiting related suppliers, according to indsutry... |
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| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 7:45:27 AM | | | | | | IC and material distributors to embrace strong profit growth in 2021
Julian Ho, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES
Friday 9 April 2021
Taiwan-based IC and material distributors are expected to see their profit growths this year outperform revenue increases, as shortages of IC parts and materials are sending prices up, according to industry sources.
Companies including Answer Technology (ANStek), Edom Technology, GMI Technology, Supreme Electronics, Sunnic Technology & Merchandise, WPG and WT Microelectronics are among the beneficiaries of the ongoing chip and materials shortfalls, the sources said.
Robust RF chip demand for 5G and Wi-Fi 6 related device applications is set to buoy revenues at WPG, WT Micro and Edom, as well as ANStek with its newly-added Qorvo RF product line, in 2021, the sources noted.
GMI, which distributes the majority of Realtek Semiconductor's chip offerings including Wi-Fi core chips, is also poised to enjoy a strong 2021, the sources continued.
With the supply of memory chips becoming tight, Supreme is set to benefit from a rally in memory chip prices this year, the sources said. Supreme sells memory chips mainly for South Korea-based vendors.
Sunnic, which distributes CMOS image sensors for Sony, is also expected to generate handsome profits this year driven by strong CIS demand for not only smartphones but also automotive electronics and security control applications, the sources indicated.
In addition, semiconductor material distributors including Topco Scientific, Topco Technologies and Wahlee Industrial, and IC packaging materials distributor Niching Industrial are all poised to post impressive profit increases in 2021, when their suppliers such as Shin-Etsu and Sumitomo Bakelite propose price hikes. |
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| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 7:52:11 AM | | | | | | AUO sales rise [~50% on year] in March
Rodney Chan, DIGITIMES, Taipei
Friday 9 April 2021
AU Optronics (AUO) has reported consolidated revenue of NT$30.72 billion (US$1.08 billion) for March 2021, up by 20.0% on month and 49.8% on year.
Consolidated revenues in the first quarter of 2021 came to NT$82.94 billion, up by 3.0% sequentially and 54.5% on year,said the Taiwan-based panel maker.
Panel area shipments totaled around 2.21 million square meters in March 2021, up by 10.1% month-over-month, disclsed AUO.
First-quarter 2021 panel area shipments reached around 6.35 million square meters, down by 6.3% quarter-over-quarter but up by 15.2% year-over-year, said AUO.
Also:
AUO to create 1,500 new jobs in 2021
Rebecca Kuo, Tainan; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES
Wednesday 17 March 2021
LCD panel maker AU Optronics (AUO) will recruit an additional 1,500 employees in 2021 as part of its efforts to enhance its development and deployment in advanced technology, AI, AIoT, big data and other across-domain applications. |
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| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 7:57:12 AM | | | | | | AiP substrates in growing demand for new mmWave iPhones in 2021
Jay Liu, Taipei; Willis Ke, DIGITIMES
Friday 9 April 2021
IC substrate makers in Apple's iPhone supply chain are aggressively bracing for production of BT-based AiP (antenna in package) substrates expecting a surge in demand for new iPhones in 2021, according to industry sources.
P.S.
mmWave where all the bits are. Where The 5G Experience is.
5nm cannot handle all the mmWave bits.
3nm SuperFin GAA JUST begins to address the intensity.
JUST.
Then 6G.
sub-1nm roadmap.
ASML |
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| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 8:08:08 AM | | | | | | FCCL makers see sharp 1Q21 revenue growths on non-handset demand
Jay Liu, Taipei; Willis Ke, DIGITIMES
Friday 9 April 2021
Taiwan-based FCCL manufacturers including Taiflex Scientific and Asia Electronic Material (AEM) have posted strong on-year revenue increases for the first quarter of 2021 thanks to robust demand for non-handset applications, with the momentum to remain in the second quarter, according to industry sources.
Taiflex's first-quarter revenues reached NT$2.202 billion (US$78.64 million), up 36.43% from a year earlier, and AEM's spiked 37.68% to NT$448 million, the highest for the same quarter.
Taiflex will continue to see strong shipments for notebook and tablet applications throughout first-half 2021 amid lingering stay-at-home activities, despite seasonality-induced slowdown in sales for handset applications, the sources said.
As FCCL demand for new handsets and other consumer devices will rise significantly in the second half of the year, Taiflex is expected to see its 2021 revenues further improve from 2020. In particular, it has landed new FCCL orders for LCP antenna and power supply modules for Apple devices, which will serve as a major growth driver for the company, the sources said.
AEM's sales to Chinese handset vendors slowed down in the first quarter, but strong shipments for notebook and tablet applications have been bolstering its overall revenues. The company expects the China market to see a 5G handset replacement boom later in the year, with shipments for non-handset applications to stay in high gear in the months ahead.
AEM's new coating lines at its Dongtai plant in China's Jiangsu province will enter trial runs later in the second quarter and kick off mass production in the third quarter to better fulfill orders in the peak season. |
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| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 8:18:50 AM | | | | | | MacBook and iPad production delayed as supply crunch hits Apple
US tech giant's headaches suggest even worse chip shortages lie ahead
TAIPEI -- Production of some MacBooks and iPads has been postponed due to the global component shortage, Nikkei Asia has learned, in a sign that even Apple, with its massive procurement power, is not immune from the unprecedented supply crunch.
Chip shortages have caused delays in a key step in MacBook production -- the mounting of components on printed circuit boards before final assembly -- sources briefed on the matter told Nikkei Asia. Some iPad assembly, meanwhile, was postponed because of a shortage of displays and display components, sources said.
As a result of the delay, Apple has pushed back a portion of component orders for the two devices from the first half of this year to the second half, the people said. Industry sources and experts say the delays are a sign that the chip shortage is growing more serious and could impact smaller tech players even more heavily.
Apple is known for its expertise in managing one of the world's most complicated supply chains, and for the speed with which it can mobilize suppliers. This has helped the company withstand a global component shortage that is already squeezing automakers and electronics makers alike.
Production plans for Apple's iconic iPhones have so far not been affected by the supply shortage, although the supply of some components for the devices is "quite tight," according to two sources. Overall, the component shortage remains a supply chain issue for Apple and has not yet had an impact on product availability for consumers, Nikkei has learned.
Apple declined to comment for this story.
Apple rival Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest smartphone maker, recently confirmed that the chip shortage could be problematic for the company in the April to June period, adding that it has teams of employees working around the clock to resolve the issue.
Large players like Apple, Samsung Electronics and HP have a lot of leverage with suppliers to demand that their orders receive priority when capacity is limited, said Peter Hanbury, a partner with consultancy Bain & Co. "They also have developed sophisticated purchasing and supply chain capabilities, including collaborative planning with semiconductor manufacturing partners and strong visibility into where their products are manufactured so they can see ahead of shortages like this," he said.
Now, however, "demand for some of these large product categories has outstripped the total capacity available," Hanbury added. "They now face the same long-term challenges [as their chip suppliers and production partners] of adding manufacturing capacity, which takes years and billions of dollars."
Apple sells around 200 million iPhones, more than 20 million MacBooks, 19 million iPads, and more than 70 million pairs of AirPods a year -- all rank within the top five globally in their respective consumer electronics segments -- making the company one of the world's most powerful procurement forces.
Apple is the world's fourth-largest laptop maker with 7.6% market share, trailing Lenovo Group Holding, HP and Dell in 2020. Apple's iPads, meanwhile, are the clear leader in the tablet market, with a 32.5% share last year, followed by Samsung, Huawei, Lenovo and Amazon, IDC data showed.
The fact that the supply crunch has spread to MacBooks and iPads -- two key Apple items -- shows that the component shortage remains a serious issue and could deal a more serious blow to tech players that have less bargaining power and supply chain management expertise than the U.S. company, industry executives told Nikkei Asia.
"We really don't see an end to this shortage, and things could be even worse, looking ahead to the end of the June quarter, as some smaller tech players could run out of some critical inventories to build their products and need to scale back production," said Wallace Gou, president and CEO of Silicon Motion, a NAND flash memory controller chip developer that supplies Samsung, Western Digital, Micron, Kingston and many others.
PC demand remains strong in this year as the stay-at-home economy brought about by the coronavirus pandemic continues to flourish. The global PC market is forecast to grow by more than 18% this year, after expanding at a rapid clip of nearly 13% last year, according to research agency IDC.
However, the U.S., Japan and Germany have asked Taiwan and South Korea, the two key chip manufacturing economies, to help prioritize chips for the automotive industry, which is crucial to the world economy. This has further squeezed production of semiconductors for consumer electronics and computer products.
P.S.
Tech totally blew The 21st. Virus only sped things up.
Oh.
One more thing.
EUV oh soooo enabling.
EUV: Ever better chips ever cheaper. |
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| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 8:28:36 AM | | | | | | China's First [PCIe 4 32GB HBM2] 7nm [GP]GPU Nears Mass Production, Pics Emerge
By Nathaniel Mott 7 days ago
Big Island
Shanghai Tianshu Intellectual Semiconductor Co. (Tianshu Zhixin) announced Wednesday that it's nearing "mass production and commercial delivery" of Big Island, China's first domestically produced 7nm general-purpose GPU (GPGPU).
(Image credit: Tianshu Zhixin)
Tianshu Zhixin said in January that BI was made using an unidentified 7nm process node and 2.5D chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging. On Wednesday, it confirmed our suspicion that BI was made using TSMC's 7nm FinFET process.
It also shared a little more information about what people can expect from BI when it starts to ship. The image below shows Tianshu Zhixin's performance claims in a variety of floating point formats that it teased during the January announcement:
Tianshu Zhixin claimed that BI offers "nearly twice the performance of mainstream manufacturers' products" at a lower power consumption while also offering a more attractive price-to-performance ratio. (Pricing details weren't revealed, however.) |
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| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 8:36:02 AM | | | | | | Samsung first-quarter profit likely surged 45% on bumper smartphone, appliance sales
By Joyce Lee
APRIL 4, 20214:06 PM
3 MIN READ
UPDATED 5 DAYS AGOSEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd likely saw a 45% jump in profit for January-March on robust sales of smartphones, TVs and home appliances, though chip division earnings are seen tumbling after a storm suspended production at its U.S. plant.
Spending more time at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, consumers have splashed out on an array of high-margin consumer electronics which in turn has helped cause a global shortage of semiconductors.
Operating profit for the South Korean tech giant in the quarter is expected to have climbed to 9.3 trillion won ($8.2 billion), according to a Refinitiv SmartEstimate drawn from 16 analysts. SmartEstimates assign more weight to forecasts from consistently accurate analysts.
That would mark Samsung’s highest operating income level for the first quarter since 2018. Revenue likely rose 12%.
Samsung is scheduled to announce preliminary first-quarter results on Wednesday.
In particular, its mobile division looks like it had a stand-out quarter, benefiting from the launch of its Galaxy S21 series in mid-January - more than a month ahead of the flagship model’s usual annual release schedule.
The world’s largest smartphone maker is estimated to have cornered roughly 23% of global market in the quarter, thanks to that launch and cheaper-than-usual pricing for its premium devices, according to Counterpoint Research. The S21, for example, was priced $200 lower than the S20.
That compares with 20% market share in the same quarter a year ago and 16% market share in the previous quarter when arch-rival Apple Inc released the iPhone 12.
High-margin accessories such as Galaxy Buds did brisk business as well, analysts said. They estimate operating profit for the division likely soared by more than 1 trillion won from a year earlier to about 4.15 trillion won.
Samsung’s TV and home appliance business is expected to see operating profit more than double to around 1 trillion won.
Despite stratospheric demand worldwide for chips, profits for Samsung’s semiconductor division are expected to have fallen by roughly a fifth to 3.6 trillion won.
The division has been hampered by the cost of ramping up new production and losses at its Texas factory after a winter storm halted output in mid-February. Samsung said production at the plant had returned to near-normal levels as of late March.
Analysts have estimated the losses related to the Texas factory shutdown at around 300-400 billion won. |
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| From: BeenRetired | 4/9/2021 8:56:32 AM | | | | | | Gelsinger "“righting this wrong.' By more than doubling its use of EUV"...
Furthermore, Intel is addressing the issues which have delayed the release of its next-gen 7-nanometer chips. Bolton says the company is “righting this wrong.” By more than doubling its use of EUV (extreme ultraviolet), it has now “re-architected and simplified its 7nm process flow.”
These include the production of modular tiles using state-of-the-art process technologies for the company’s client and data center CPUs as well as the Ponte Vecchio GPU.
Intel Stock Stages a Big Comeback; Analyst Says ‘Buy’ | Nasdaq
P.S.
Pat will be laser focused on EUV.
Intel has a good handle on Stack.
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