No one could do better than TSMC when it comes to predicting the possible size of next year's 5G smartphone market, as the top foundry house can rely on order visibility from chip clients to support its estimation. Now some industry sources have cited TSMC's internal estimates as expecting global 5G smartphone shipments to approach 300 million units next year. TSMC has been runing at full capacity at its 7nm processes, thanks to demand from the 5G sector, and capacity supply for other nodes has also been running tight. And some memory device vendors have asked their controller suppliers to build up inventory in advance to avoid production jams at TSMC. Chip vendors looking for advanced node manufacturing support could turn to Samsung Foundry, which is reportedly keen to build up its EUV production capacity.
TSMC more optimistic than others about 5G phone shipments in 2020: Global shipments of 5G phones could approach 300 million units in 2020, much higher than most market observers expect, according to industry sources, citing an internal estimate at TSMC.
Memory controller suppliers urged to build up inventory in advance: Judging from TSMC's rising capacity utilization rates, downstream memory device vendors have asked their controller suppliers to build up their inventory in advance, according to industry sources.
Samsung reportedly places additional EUV equipment orders: Samsung Electronics has reportedly placed additional EUV equipment orders for its foundry operations.