Global notebook shipments wee weaker than expected in second-quarter 2021, thanks to components shortages. Global notebook shipments will see less than 2% sequential growth in the third quarter. Smartphone AP shipments into China grew about 3% sequentially in the second quarter, and will rise by anohter 7% in the third quarter. DIGITIMES recently talked to tech venture specialist Vitaly M Golomb about the EV trends ahead of his participation in the upcoming "Asia Venturing (II): Tech-Driven Mobility" event.
Apple is expected to significantly increase its pull-ins of components shipments for new iPhones in the second half of the year, driven by its impressive growth in market share in China for high-end 5G models, according to industry sources.
Sales of smartphone in India took a hit by the resurgence of COVID-19 in the second quarter this year, but when compared with the same period in 2020, sales have seen considerable growth of 82%, rising to 33 million units, according to Counterpoint Research.
About 218 million smartphone application processors (APs) were shipped to China-based handset vendors in the second quarter of 2021, up about 3% sequentially, according to Digitimes Research. Shipments are forecast to register another sequential growth of 6.9% in the third quarter.
Is there any way out for Huawei, which has been cornered by the US government? It used to be able to ship 200 million handsets a year, and it remains to be seen whether it can make it to 40 million units in 2021. Is Huawei going to give in? Will China let Huawei fight alone? By no means!
A surge in COVID infections in Southeast Asia is hitting Japanese carmakers' production in the region. And COVID-inflicted disruptions to logistics services have prompted Vietnam to introduce a new rail transport route to Europe.
India's handset market saw a milder-than-expected sequential drop in sales in second-quarter despite COVID surges, while its car industry is calling on the government not to extend preferential tariffs to Tesla.
Following the 5G commercial launch, 5G handsets have experienced a surge in shipments since 2020, and China is the foremost market in terms of volume, keeping other countries at bay.
With its Vive business and ecosystem continuing to expand, HTC saw its net losses narrow further in the second quarter of 2021 with a higher gross margin.
The tide of working from home has dramatically boosted the PC industry. The notebook industry has experienced rebounds from their past moderate years. Handset vendors instead seem to be drained of creativity, and it may not be easy for them to see a repeat of the prosperity in 2008-2018. Global shipments in 2021 are projected at 1.32 billion units, a moderate rise of 6.4% year-on-year.
EV development is fast acclerating. Jack Cheng, CEO of the Foxconn-led MIH Alliance, an open platofrm for EV development, believes the EV market may reach its sweet spot in 2025-2026. In the semiconductor sector, MediaTek has raised its outlook for for 2021, expecting its revenues to grow 45% this year. In China, Unisoc is seeing a sharp rise in adoption of its smartphone APs by Chinese phone vendors.
TSMC and other Taiwan partners in the chips supply chain for iPhones are gearing up to start fulfilling initial orders for new iPhones slated for launch later this year including 60 million 5G mmWave models, but shortages of peripheral chips such as acoustic and display driver ICs (DDI) may constrain actual shipments for the devices, according to industry sources.
Propelled by the relentless efforts of Korean and Chinese panels makers, the application of the AMOLED panels has made significant headway in the tablet and notebook sector since 2021.
Sales of smartphones in India in the second quarter in 2021 declined by 13% on quarter as the country battles through resurgences of COVID-19. Sales were still up on year; online stores were rapidly installed after the pandemic hit last year. As vaccines rolled out at the end of the second quarter, Chinese vendors turn more optimistic about sales in the coming months.
After the peak of component crunch in the second quarter along with insufficient inventory in the third quarter, stress of stagnant deliverables on the highway seems to have been relieved. A consensus of the supply chain is to let the manufacturers breathe. The fourth quarter is in line with the traditional off-season, and the days should be easier. From foundries to IC design houses, Taiwanese manufacturers are in the limelight now. DIGITIMES Asia has noted in its reports that the foundry sector is now a seller's market with strong demand to last in end of 2022. Such messages are based on dynamic changes in demand-supply status of IT industry from the most upstream of the supply chain. Component shortages and component cannibalization require long-term rolling tracking. DIGITIMES Asia has been making dynamic adjustments to its views in line with rolling forecasts.
5G subscriptions are growing at a rate of about one million per day. 5G is expected to become the fastest adopted mobile generation in history, compared to 4G LTE. It is estimated that by the end of 2021, 5G subscriptions will reach 580 million, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report 2021. However, the penetration rate of 5G in Asia still varies greatly from country to country and now many countries are aiming to win in this 5G rollout competition.
Chip shortage gas been serious, but Apple and carmakers are both asking for more ICs, the former looking to secure supply for its upcoming devices and the latter to prevent dirsuptions to their productions. Chinese IC designers are seeking more advanced manufacturing support from TSMC for their AI and HPC chips. Taiwan-based server makers are keen on expanding production capacity to meet strong demand.
Apple has stepped up its chip purchases for the upcoming iPhones, while first-tier automotive component vendors in the supply chains of carmakers in Japan are also vying for more available ICs, according to industry sources.
Wistron, which has qualified for Production Linked Incentives (PLI) from the Indian government, is focusing its operation in India on stability over volume, according to company sources.
Handset shipments in Taiwan hit the lowest level thus far this year in June as consumers withheld their buying activities due to the expanded impacts of the COVID-19 infections on the local market.
While Apple is expected to have at least its new iPhone Pro series for 2021 feature ToF-based LiDAR scanners, some Android handset vendors including China's Honor are poised to resume adoption of ToF cameras for their new flagship models, according to industry sources.
Strong demand and tight capacity are pushing up foundry serivce quotes. Major Taiwan-based foundry houses are expected to report record-high sales in third-quarter 2021. The overall handset market may be weak, but 5G smartphone demand is picking up. Smartphone chip vendors expect their sales to be fueled by 5G offerings in third-quarter 2021. Servers are also gearing up for the 5G edge computing boom.
Most Taiwan-based IC design houses are poised to see their revenues grow at least 10% sequentially in the third quarter of 2021, bolstered by a pick-up in chip orders for 5G smartphones, according to industry sources.
