01. Android handset manufacturers hold surplus inventory of electronic components
On February 15, 2023, it was reported that Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi had a high inventory of electronic components recently, including a serious surplus of processor inventory. Most Android brands, such as Xiaomi, face the risk of high inventory level.
The report points out that the inventory of electronic components of Xiaomi is equivalent to about 200000 to 300000 smartphones, and the surplus inventory of processors comes from MediaTek and Qualcomm.
The report further said that due to weak demand, Xiaomi and most Android brands are facing the risk of high inventory level. For example, the inventory of finished products and parts of Samsung mobile phones may not fall to a reasonable level until June.
The report predicts that these surplus stocks may be passed on to authorized dealers of electronic components. However, the high inventory level of authorized dealers may lead to weak demand in the coming quarters.
02. Industry insiders: provide discounts on behalf of factories to cope with market downturn
On February 16, 2023, according to industry insiders, UMC has offered a price discount of 10-15% to customers willing to increase the order volume in the second quarter of 2023.
The source said that the OEMs, including UMC, originally intended to maintain the quotation, but in order to maintain the utilization rate of the capacity of the wafer factory, they have started to offer discounts or other preferential conditions to customers.
The source further revealed that in addition to UMC, TSMC hopes to restore the discount for specific customers and order volume, while VIS offers more free wafers as discounts for some customers. In addition, according to earlier reports, Samsung Electronics plans to reduce the OEM price by 10% to cope with the weak overall market demand.
03. Texas Instruments plans to expand GaN wafer capacity to meet the needs of automobile and industry
On February 16, 2023, according to the Nikkei Asia report, Texas Instruments (TI) plans to expand its GaN wafer capacity in Japan.
The report points out that although the overall market is slowing, some markets covered by Texas Instruments, such as automobiles, are still not affected. The demand for industrial robots and automation is also strong. These applications need mature process products, and the supply is still tight.
According to Texas Instruments, there is a large demand for products using gallium nitride. The company will narrow its target and invest in important technologies. It will mainly invest in the Fujitsu wafer factory in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, to expand its capacity.
As for the transformation of sales model of Texas Instruments in recent years, the Japanese head of the company said that TI is changing its sales model from distribution to direct sales, and this strategy that is closer to customers is the right choice. Supply can directly meet customers' needs and make products easier and faster to transfer to customers.
04. Infineon starts to build a 300 mm power semiconductor factory, which is expected to be produced in 2026
On February 17, 2023, Infineon Technologies began to build its new semiconductor factory for analog/mixed signal technology and power semiconductors. The company plans to invest about 5 billion euros in the plant and will start production in 2026. This is the largest single investment in the company's history.
Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon, said: "We are accelerating our pace by expanding capacity to take advantage of the growth opportunities provided by the trend of decarbonization and digitalization. "We see a growing structural demand for semiconductors, such as for renewable energy, data centers and electric vehicles. By building a 300 mm smart power wafer factory in Dresden, we have created the necessary prerequisites for successfully meeting the growing demand for semiconductors."
Infineon's investment is an important contribution to achieving the goal of 20% of global semiconductor production in the EU by 2030 announced by the European Commission. The industrial and automotive application semiconductors produced by Dresden will help ensure the value chain of key European industries in the future.
In addition, Infineon's investment has strengthened the manufacturing base of semiconductors that promote decarbonization and digitalization. Analog/mixed-signal devices are used in power supply systems, such as energy-saving charging systems, small car motor control units, data centers and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The interaction between power semiconductors and analog/mixed signal devices makes it possible to create particularly energy-saving and intelligent system solutions.
05. Intel officially discontinued the production of "Rocket Lake CPU"
Intel, the largest processor manufacturer, announced to its partners last Friday that it would stop producing the 11th generation Rocket Lake CPU and that February 23, 2024 would be the final shipment date. The 11th generation of Core-i Rocket Lake series processors are the last generation to adopt the 14nm process products, and the shutdown represents the end of the 14nm process. Intel said that before the shutdown, the partners could still order Rocket Lake CPU before August 25.
According to Wccftech, after the 11th generation Rocket Lake CPU was discontinued, Intel will no longer produce 14nm CPU for client PC. Due to the shared processor architecture, Intel also decided to stop production of XeonW-1300 processor, and the final order and shipment date are the same as Rocket Lake CPU.
Rocket Lake series CPU made its debut in 2021, adopting the 14nm process starting in 2014. Compared with Sky lake, the core architecture Cypress Cove has a 19% increase in computing efficiency, but it cannot increase the number of cores. Rocket Lake series is mainly composed of 8 cores, which is less than 10 cores of Sky lake. The key to Intel's continued use of the 14nm process at that time was that, in addition to the delay in the development of the 10nm process, the process was very mature and the productivity utilization rate was too high. Intel could not immediately switch to the new process. Rocket Lake series has also made a lot of progress by virtue of AI functions.
Intel listed 26 processors, including the flagship Core-i i9-11900K, and processors with the same performance as Xeon W-1390P, but with the functions required by workstations and enterprises. Intel will end the Rocket Lake processor product line consisting of i5, i7 and i9 models and Xeon W models of workstations. Recently, Intel has successively launched two generations of new series processors. With the new nodes, it will introduce more advanced architecture and performance. It is an inevitable trend to eliminate old technology products.
06. FPGA manufacturer Lattice achieved strong growth at the end of 2022
Lattice Semiconductor Corp. performed well in 2022 with strong growth and increasing profitability. This may be because the company focuses on industrial, automotive and communications industries.
The FPGA supplier achieved sales of $176 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, up 24.1% year on year. The company achieved a net profit of US $51.9 million, almost twice that of a year ago.
Lattice announced that the annual sales volume was $660.3 million and the net profit was $178.9 million. Sales increased by 28.1% year on year, and profit was almost twice that of last year.
"In the whole year of 2022, our revenue increased by 28%, and strategic sectors such as industry and automobile, communications and computing continued to grow strongly," said Jim Anderson, CEO of Lattice in a statement. "We achieved an annual growth rate of 86% of net income on the basis of GAAP and 64% on the basis of non-GAAP."
Anderson added: "With the beginning of 2023, although we will certainly not be immune from any macroeconomic challenges affecting the industry, the company is in a favorable position in the long-term growth market, with an expanding product portfolio, accelerating customer momentum and strong financial execution."
07. DIGITIMES Research: Due to the problem of channel inventory, the shipment of notebook computers in January fell further
According to the latest data of DIGITIMES Research's monthly notebook computer report, the total shipments of the five major notebook computer brands in the world, excluding Apple, fell by 29% month-on-month, down nearly half from the same period a year ago, due to the slow digestion of channel inventory and the market's transition period before the launch of new products, so the orders of existing models decreased.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) became the largest notebook brand again in January, because this American supplier has better inventory digestibility than its competitors. Dell is the second largest company with a month-on-month increase in shipments, which is due to the increase in orders for some enterprise models.
Lenovo's shipment volume fell sharply in month on month, because the Chinese brand's high channel inventory in its key markets seriously weakened its influence. Digital display.
In January, the shipments of the top three ODMs fell 24% month-on-month. Compal performed best this month because its largest customer, Dell, increased orders while its orders from Taiwan brands remained stable.
