Unusually low rainfalls in Taiwan over the past year have resulted in water shortages, particularly in the southern parts of the country. Some companies at the Southern Taiwan Science Park, including TSMC, have started buying truckloads of water to make up for the shortfall from reservoirs, apart from stepping up conservation measures. TSMC is set to move 4nm process to volume production in 2022, which may prompt Qualcomm to place foundry orders for its next generation mobile chips. Stronger-than-expected demand from 5G and automotive chip segments is sending MLCC pricing up.
Taiwan chipmakers moving to counter water shortages: Chipmakers including TSMC and UMC have started buying water by the truckload for their foundries in Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP), as reservoirs in southern Taiwan face dwindling water levels following months of scant rainfalls, according to industry sources.
Qualcomm may switch to TSMC 4nm node in 2022: Qualcomm will continue to fabricate its next-generation 5G mobile chip, tentatively dubbed Snapdragon 895, at Samsung Electronics built using an upgraded 5nm process, but may switch to TSMC in 2022 using its 4nm process, according to industry sources.
High-capacitance MLCC prices set to rise: MLCC vendors including Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Semco) and TDK are likely to raise their quotes for high-capacitance MLCCs in response to stronger-than-expected demand for 5G handset and automotive applications, according to channel distribution sources.
