Toshiba has maintained that it has not reached any "definitive decisions" to sell its two wafer fabs. But even if any of the pure-play foundries manage to buy Toshiba's fabs, the supply of 8-inch wafer fab capacity will remain short of demand. Global IC foundry output value is expected to go up by more than 20% in 2020 and ris further in 2021, accordig to Digitimes Research. In the IC design sector, Taiwan-based service and IP providers have seen many Chinese clients come knocking on their doors seeking support for development of CPUs in bids to unshackle themselves from reliance on US supply.
Addition of Toshiba fabs unlikely to relieve 8-inch fab capacity shortage: Toshiba is reportedly seeking to sell its 8-inch fabs in the first quarter of 2021, but the global 8-inch foundry capacity shortages will still hardly be relieved even if the Japanese IDM's fabs are sold to pure-play foundry houses that look to increase their supply to clients, according to industry sources.
Global IC foundry output value to rise over 20% in 2020: Output value for the global IC foundry industry is forecast to surge more than 20% in 2020, and will register another on-year growth but at a slower pace in 2021, according to Digitimes Research.
China stepping up homegrown processor development: Taiwan-based IC design service and silicon IP providers continue to see strong demand particularly for high-margin CPUs from China, according to industry sources.
