Taiwan-based first-tier IC design houses including MediaTek, Novatek Microelectronics and Realtek Semiconductor are believed to have seen their March revenues climb substantially on month and boost their revenues for the first quarter, according to market sources.
MediaTek and Novatek are both expected to report first-quarter revenues beating their guidances given previously, while Realtek will see its revenue for first-quarter 2021 outperform the levels seen during the same period in previous years, the sources said.
Specializing in networking chips, Realtek saw its cumulative 2021 revenue through February surge 45.6% on year to NT$15.29 billion (US$535.3 million). The company will likely see its first-quarter revenue outpace the prior quarter's level, the sources indicated.
Realtek will see its revenue remain buoyant in the second quarter, thanks to growing shipments of its Wi-Fi 6 chip solutions that has attracted orders from notebook vendors, the sources continued. The company is also engaged in the development of chips supporting Wi-Fi 6E.
Display driver IC specialist Novatek is likely to see its March revenue top NT$10 billion, buoyed by a strong pull-in of orders for smartphones, the sources said.
Novatek estimated previously first-quarter revenue at between NT$25.2 billion and NT$26 billion, representing a 12-15% sequential increase. The company's revenue for the first two months of 2021 totaled NT$16.84 billion, up a robust 51.9% on year.
Thanks to a strong pull-in of orders for 5G smartphone chips, MediaTek is set to see its March revenues grow sharply to a record high, according to the sources.
MediaTek estimated previously first-quarter revenue at NT$96.4-104.1 billion, up 0-8% sequentially. The company's cumulative 2021 revenue through February came to NT$67.89 billion, rising 78% from a year earlier.
In related news, Realtek has reportedly notified customers that its delivery lead times have been extended to 32 weeks, due to tight capacity at foundries and the overall supply shortfall facing the networking IC sector. It remains to be seen whether tight foundry capacity, upstream materials shortages, and other supply-side issues will constrain Taiwan-based first-tier fabless chipmakers' revenue growth this year.
