Infographics refers to a visual representation of information or data. PowerPoint widely used in the last one or two decades and the availability of more affordable tools have posed more challenges for industrial analysts. We transform original news or charts into visual infographics, an efficient way to convey the information to the readers and listeners. That's a very basic skill for analysts now.

Foundry houses have been raising their service quotes, but fabless IC designers are finding it more and more difficult to pass on the increases in production costs to their downstream clients who are seeing demand from the end market slowing down. In the foundry sector, Samsung is keen to dethrone TSMC, but the Korean chip giant reportedly is experiencing bottlenecks on its way to commercializing its 3nm processes. Meanwhile, ABF substrate makers are seeing more of their clients asking to sign long-term supply contracts.

People who don't get used to spending time looking for information are less likely to understand the expertise and cost of organizing the primary material of raw data. Many people understand "garbage in, garbage out." If you do not know where to search for information, you are apt to deviate from the theme and end up with wasting social resources.

TSMC's plans to raise its foundry services fees further are expected to send production costs up for Apple's devices. PCB makers see clear order visibility for their automotive applications in the months ahead, but chip shortage and the resurging COVID pandemic may undermine their actual shipments. Samsung has just released two new foldable phones, and vendor expects foldable phones will become the mainstream in the high-end phone segemnt.

I have many years of experience in industry research, information integration, and making charts on my own. But as the research tools continue to evolve, everyone has his or her talents or skills in one way or another. I am delighted to explore and share what I have learned and experienced during my 36 years' experience in the industry.

Poland-based Renderro was selected by the Epoch Foundation Garage+ Accelerator in early June as one of the 46 must-see startups to participate in Computex Taipei 2021 Virtual Exhibition. It provides a cloud-based solution for creative production desktop platform service that targets 55 million users worldwide to overcome the restrictions of time and geographical boundaries. Ronderro founder and CEO Piotr Chomczyk talked to DIGITIMES recently about what inspired him to create this solution and his vision for future developments.

Semiconductor production cost is set to rise further, as the world's number pure-play foundry, TSMC, has notified clients that its quotes will rise 10-20% starting next year. Silicon wafer supplier GlobalWafers has reported clear order visibility till year end 2022. In the display sector, China-based panel maker CSOT has started moving in equipment at a module plant in India.

Taiwan's PC monitor shipments fell nearly 7% sequentially to 22.12 million units in the second quarter of 2021, due mainly to shortages of related components and materials, according to Digitimes Research.

Foundry quotes have been rising amid tight capacity and strong demand. UMC has notified clients that prices for its 28nm and 22nm process manufacturing will be raised in September and November 2021, and again in January 2022. In China, memory maker YMTC sees slow progress in the manufacturing of 128-layer 3D NAND flash because of low yield rates. Foxconn has made another step towards gaining a bigger presence in the carmaking industry. Its subsidiary, FIH Mobile, and Stellantis have entered into an agreement to form a joint venture focusing on delivering a smart cockpit solution for vehicles.

The global top-5 notebook brands (not including Apple) saw their combined shipments slip 5% on month in July, due mainly to a substantial slowdown in demand from the gradually saturating education procurement sector, despite robust back-to-office orders and shipments of new consumer models, according to Digitimes Research.

TSMC, United Microelectronics (UMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) are forecast to see their combined revenues increase over 10% sequentially in the third quarter of 2021, with revenues for the whole year estimated to climb more than 20% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

Taiwanese suppliers are keen to play a part in the SpaceX's Starlink project, which is expected to create significant demand supporting its deployments of ground facilities. In the handset maket, IC design houses are seeing strong orders for 4G smartphone chips from Chinese handset vendors. In the transition from 4G to 5G, it is difficult for handset vendors to maintain a balance in their offerings between the two generations.

The move of GF's plan for IPO is more likely to happen in the near future, which might make Intel's buyout plan vanish. Two OLED panel suppliers in China are expanding their panel capabilities which tell the adoption rate of OLED panels in smartphone brands, including Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, is getting higher. LCD panel makers; on the other hand, are transforming to focus on more value-added products.

Many ask if TSMC is a Taiwanese company. If you look at the equity structure, about three-fourths of the foundry house's shares are in the hands of foreign investors, so TSMC is not a Taiwanese company in this sense. And TSMC's customers are 62% American, 17% from China, and local customers in Taiwan account for only about 11%, so TSMC is a company that relies heavily on overseas customers. But among TSMC's 56,000 employees, only 7% are in China, 3% in North America, and the remaining 90% are all in Taiwan, which gives the foundry house full support in terms of water and power supply, talent and others. And 96% of TSMC's revenues are generated from Taiwan's fabs. TSMC's 16nm or more advanced process nodes are all in Taiwan. Without Taiwan's full support, TSMC would never have come this far.

China-based foundries may not be able to provide manufacturing sevices using the most advanced processes, but they see strong demand from the domestic market. SMIC and Huahong are expected to report handsome profits this year. And Huahong Semiconductor has been aggressively expanding capacity. The arrival of the 5G era has prompted many chip suppliers to turn their focus away from 4G applications, supply of which is falling short of demand.