Taiwanese foundry houses' promises to devote more capacity to making automotive chips have raised concern among smaller IC designers. With the foundry capacity unlikely to see major expansion anytime soon, production of more automotive chips may increase at the expense of second-tier IC designers of other applications. Tight capacity has also been troubling the backend sector. To reflect the tight supply, driver IC backend specialists are looking to raise prices later in first-quarter 2021, having already done so in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone vendors see demand from both the domestic and overseas markets picking up. They are expected to see smartphone shipments grow annujally in first-quarter 2021, according to Digitimes Research.
Fabless chipmakers worry about further supply constraints: With major Taiwan-based foundries expressing their supply commitments to their automotive customers, fabless chipmakers particularly second-tier players have expressed concerns about their supply being further constrained, according to industry sources.
DDI backend houses to further raise quotes later in 1Q21: Display driver IC (DDI) backend specialists including Chipbond Technology and ChipMOS Technologies plan to enforce a second wave of price hikes in late February or early March to reflect their continued tight capacity, according to industry sources.
China smartphone shipments to post annual gains in 1Q21: Chinese smartphone vendors are expected to see robust annual growths in first-quarter 2021 shipments to both the domestic and overseas markets, according to Digitimes Research.