Chip vendors have been scrambling for foundry capacity supply from Taiwan. Both international and domestic IC vendors, such as Infineon and MediaTek have been willing to strike long-term foundry contracts. In China, device brand vendors are keen on rolling out Gan-based fast chargers, stimulating demand for GaN-on-Si chips. But smartphone sales in China remained feeble in May, dropping 31% on year.
LED probing, testing and sorting equipment maker FiTech is ramping up its OEM testing and sorting capacity for miniLED chips, having recently completed the corresponding capacity expansion project.
Bluetooth headset suppliers have seen shortages of related ICs become worsen in the second quarter, according to industry sources.
Mask ROM and flash memory maker Macronix is close to striking a deal to sell its 6-inch fab in Taiwan. Tokyo Electron is named as the most likely buyer of the Macronix fab. The notebook sector has been troubled by component shortages for months, but outlook for the notebook market remains robust throughout the year. Taiwan-based diode makers see clear order visibility through the end of the year, thanks to WFH needs and a surge in automotive applications.
ASRock is upbeat about its sales and profit performance in the second quarter of 2021, citing strong demand for graphics cards, industrial PCs and servers.
Shortages of notebook-use ICs are in varying degrees, according to industry sources. The supply of display driver ICs, power management chips and I/O controllers is extremely tight, for example.
Makers of notebook internal compartment parts and hinges have seen a deceleration in order pull-ins from notebook brand clients in second quarter amid component shortages.
Taiwan's flexible PCB (FPCB) suppliers Zhen Ding Technology and Flexium Interconnect are expected to post robust sales for second-quarter 2021, mainly bolstered by shipments to Apple for non-handset applications, according to industry sources.
The top-100 tech firms in Asia are mostly based in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan, with the car and tech products/equipment sectors making up the two largest groups, according to Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC 100), the freshly released research results by Digitimes. The ASC 100 study, based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap, wil be renewed annually. In the notebook industry, makers are using more aluminum-alloy components to replace copper ones, as copper prices stay at high levels.
With copper prices remaining at high levels, several notebook brand vendors have asked their component suppliers to use aluminum-alloy for internal compartment parts that have high proportion of use of copper, according to sources from compartment part suppliers.
Countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia stand a chance of becoming rising stars in the midst of supply chain shifts and the move toward shorter supply chains and localization. Four Indian firms and one Indonesian firm entered Digitimes' Asia Supply Chain 100 (ASC100). By region, Tata Motors at No. 22 in ASC100 is the champion in Southeast Asia and South Asia, followed by Indonesia's Astra International (No. 68) and India's Mahindra & Mahindra (No. 69), Maruti Suzuki (No. 74) and Motherson Sumi (No. 89). ASC 100 is a study based on the companies' revenues, profit and market cap that will be renewed annually.
