Taiwan-based IC design houses have seen terminal customers start slowing down their pace of orders, and are aware that downstream device makers will be revisiting their production plans and closely monitoring chip inventories they hold over the next quarter, according to industry sources.
Backlight unit (BLU) maker Coretronic expects shipments of its image products and visual solutions to hike 60% sequentially in May, thanks to deferred shipments from the previous month.
Optoelectronics materials supplier Wah Hong Industrial has reported net profits surged 179% on year to a nine-year high of NT$96.04 million (US$3.5 million) in the first quarter of 2021, with EPS reaching NT$0.98.
Touch module maker TPK Holding expects consolidated revenues for the second quarter of 2021 to decrease 10-15% on quarter mainly due to off-season effects, according to company president Leo Hsieh at a May 6 investor conference.
Nichia, with investment of JPY60 billion (US$549 million), is setting up dedicated production capacity for miniLED chips for backlighting applications in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, with completion scheduled for July 2021 and production to kick off at the end of September 2021, according to Dai Tsuan-jia, general manager for Nichia Taiwan.
Display driver IC (DDI) backend specialists Chipbond Technology and ChipMOS Technologies have seen unstable capacity utilization for processing small- to medium-size applications due mainly to unstable wafer shipments from chip designers, according to industry sources.
Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology (TSMT) will trial surface mounting of miniLED chips, ICs and other components on PCBs for use in backlighting of two MacBook models to be launched in second-half 2021, according to industry sources.
Polarizer maker Cheng Mei Materials Technology (CMMT) can only operate at 80-85% of its capacity at present due to a shortage of VA (vertically aligned) compensation films, according to company sources.
Eternal Materials has seen shipments increasing for silicone-based sealant used in miniLED packaging amid growing demand for miniLED backlighting, according to industry sources.
Backlight unit (BLU) maker Coretronic is expanding its production capacity in Vietnam and China to meet increasing market demand, according to Sarah Lin, president of its energy-saving device unit.
With Corning and AU Optronics (AUO) planning to undertake annual maintenance for their fabs shortly, the current tight supply of glass substrates and LCD panels is likely to worsen in the near term, according to industry sources.
Corning has reported sales of US$3.3 billion for first-quarter 2021, falling 2% sequentilly but rising 38% on year, with net income soaring 138% sequentially to arrive at US$599 million and swinging back from loss registered in first-quarter 2020.
Taiwan-based Darwin Precisions, which offers fine metal masks (FMM) for OLED panel production, expects robust demand for miniLED-backlit applications to drive its sales growth in 2021, according to company chairman Michael Tsai.
Taiwan's top LCD makers believe Apple's adopting miniLED backlighting for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro will encourage other device vendors to follow suit, spurring demand for such applications.
Solar Applied Materials Technology, a Taiwan-based supplier of precious and rare metals, chemicals and materials, is enjoying robust orders from clients in the semiconductor, panel and storage industries.
Corning is at Touch Taiwan 2021 from April 21 through 23 to mark two decades of its local operations. It is showcasing a range of its glass innovations in display technologies and mobile consumer electronics, including the Ribbon Ceramics high-quality, fully-dense ceramic substrates in ribbon format, and Guardiant, an antimicrobial paint additive.
Touch display solution provider General Interface Solution (GIS) focuses promotion in 2021 on fingerprint recognition solutions, including film- and glass-based capacitor sensors, 3D lens-based sensors, TFT optical sensors and ultrasonic sensors, according to company.
The supply of compensation films and other upstream materials for use in the production of polarizers has become severely tight, which will constrain the overall supply of polarizers throughout this year, according to Taiwan-based Cheng Mei Materials Technology (CMMT).
Ennostar is showcasing miniLED backlighting and fine-pitch RGB miniLED displays at Touch Taiwan 2021, where PlayNitride is exhibiting microLED displays of varying sizes.
BenQ Materials has sustained full capacity utilization for polarizer production, with its order visibility clear through the end of the second quarter or even the third quarter, according to company chairman ZC Chen.
The three-day physical event of the Touch Taiwan 2021 exhibition kicked off on April 21 in Taipei, highlighting over 100 smart display solutions coupled with an array of new technologies and applications, according to the show organizer.
Components shortages have been troubling the notebook sector, with ODMs and brand vendors set to see shipments fall short of demand by 30-50% in second-quarter 2021. Chromebooks have been among devices that have seen extremely tight supply of eMMC storage they need - a result of short supply of NAND flash controllers. Meanwhile, panel maker AUO has entered the supply chain of Samsung's microLED TVs by providing backplanes.
