News
OLED chips may be out of stock; UMC's production capacity may be in short supply by 2023
Grab production capacity! Automotive chips shift to pre-booking foundry capacity model, foundries such as TSMC have been awarded long-term contracts
According to DIGITIMES reports, TSMC, UMC, World Advanced and other foundries have signed agreements with Infineon's automotive chip makers, and orders are scheduled to be completed in 2022 and 2023.
Sources said that due to the serious shortage of cores before, automotive chip manufacturers have changed their foundry ordering model, from the "Just in time (JIT)" model to the pre-booked capacity model.
The source also said that automotive suppliers have now begun to build inventories and reserve fab capacity in advance, adding that they are increasingly aware that the current chip shortage is a "structural" problem.
In 2021, the "core shortage" crisis in the global automotive industry will continue. In the first half of this year, many wafer foundries such as UMC, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, World Advanced, etc. raised their quotations by 10%-15% for urgent 8-inch foundry orders and new casting orders. TSMC first cancelled the 12-inch order discount for major customers at the beginning of this year, and orders are currently scheduled to the first half of 2022.
Samsung, TSMC's production capacity is tight, OLED chips may be out of stock
According to the British "Financial Times" report, 90% of the global OLED display chips are currently produced in South Korea, most of which are made by Samsung Electronics, and the remaining OLED chips are produced by TSMC. However, the global chip shortage has made these two companies full of production capacity. According to reports, signs of a shortage of OLED chips are about to emerge. The price of OLED chips in the second quarter has risen by one-fifth, and major companies are hoarding stocks. Due to the low gross profit of OLED chips, Samsung and TSMC will not give priority to the production of these chips, but will focus on high-end chips with large orders.
UMC: The semiconductor structure problem is difficult to solve in the short-term.
According to the Taiwan Media Economic Daily, UMC held a regular shareholder meeting on the 7th. UMC’s joint general manager Jian Shanjie said that the epidemic has impacted the global economy, but the semiconductor market has accelerated due to the epidemic’s acceleration of digital transformation. On the contrary, it has grown substantially. Semiconductor production capacity is in short supply. The production capacity shortage of 12-inch factories and mature processes is even more serious.
Jian Shanjie said that the growth rate of market demand is far greater than the rate of increase in production capacity. This structural problem is difficult to solve in the short term, and the shortage of semiconductor production capacity may continue until 2023. He said that from the perspective of demand trends, the demand for 5G mobile phones, notebook computers and automotive electronics will continue not only this year, but also beyond 2022.
In addition, UMC expects that under the dual benefit fermentation of product price adjustments and optimization, the average selling price of this year's products will rise as expected by about 10% from last year.
Analog IC suppliers will face tighter 8-inch fab capacity in 2022
According to sources, the visibility of 8-inch foundry service orders from TSMC, UMC and Vanguard International SECTOR will continue until 2022. Unless some customers withdraw from the capacity reservation queue for 8-inch fabs, the capacity shortage will be certain. It will last almost the entire next year, and they have encountered difficulties in expanding production capacity.
According to sources, analog IC vendors, including MCUs, are expected to be most affected by the tight 8-inch fab capacity, because they usually rank low in foundry partners due to the low gross profit margin involved. In addition, they are The casting capacity support obtained in the second half of 2021 is still far below the needs of downstream customers, and their promised capacity in 2022 can only meet 70-80% of their needs.
According to sources, as TSMC and other foundries substantially expand their production capacity for automotive chips, including microcomputers, the lead time for automotive microcomputers is expected to be significantly shortened from 30-40 weeks to 15-20 weeks. However, GM Suppliers of niche and niche MCUs see that the casting capacity is squeezed and the delivery time may be further extended.
Thanks to four months of chip inventory, Toyota beat General Motors in the US market for the first time
According to the news from the micronet, the automobile manufacturing industry is undoubtedly the industry most affected in this core shortage. With the production line facing the risk of production cuts or even shutdowns, the establishment of sufficient chip inventories may win opportunities for automakers. It is reported that Japan's Toyota Motor has surpassed General Motors, which is the perennial leader in the US market, for the first time by virtue of this advantage.
According to the Wall Street Journal, data from the two companies show that between April and June, Toyota sold 688,813 vehicles in the United States, defeating General Motors by a small margin of 577. According to data from the car shopping website Edmunds.com, this is the first time Toyota has occupied the top position in the US market.
According to research company LMC Automotive, although other automakers have closed factories due to semiconductor shortages, Toyota has hardly been affected. According to data from LMC, so far this year, the capacity utilization rate of Toyota's plant has exceeded 90%, while the capacity utilization rate of most other automakers is only 50% to 60%. Despite this, Toyota's dealerships in the United States still face a shortage of car supply.
There are signs that when consumers cannot purchase the products they want, they will switch to Toyota.
SMIC: Chip manufacturing is in short supply and plans to expand the production capacity of 12-inch and 8-inch wafers
On July 7, SMIC stated on the interactive platform that the current supply of integrated circuit chip manufacturing is in short supply. The company's overall capacity utilization rate reached 98.7% in the first quarter of 2021. According to the company's CAPEX spending plan this year, it plans to expand the production capacity of 10,000 12-inch and 45,000 8-inch wafers to meet more customer needs.
SMIC pointed out that the overall capacity utilization rate in the first quarter of 2021 was 98.7%. The integrated circuit industry has its volatility cycle. The company will make corresponding price adjustments based on changes in the industry's supply and demand relationship and after good communication with customers.
The monthly production capacity exceeds 70,000 pieces of SMIC's major projects in mass production
According to news from the Zhejiang Daily, SMIC's Shaoxing-based Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (SMIC Shaoxing) has started to ramp up its production capacity to 70,000 wafers/month, with a yield rate of 99%. It is reported that 2020 is a crucial year for the comprehensive construction of Shaoxing's integrated circuit industry platform.
NXP applies GaN to 5G multi-chip modules
NXP Semiconductors announced on the 7th that it will integrate gallium nitride (GaN) technology into the NXP multi-chip module platform, which is an important industry milestone in the field of 5G performance.
NXP’s gallium nitride wafer fab in Arizona is the most advanced wafer fab in the United States that specializes in manufacturing RF power amplifiers. Based on the investment in the wafer fab, NXP is the first to launch a 5G massive MIMO RF solution. The solution combines the high efficiency of GaN with the compactness of multi-chip modules.
Like the previous generation of modules, the new devices are all pin compatible. RF engineers can expand the design of a single power amplifier in multiple frequency bands and power levels, shorten the design cycle time, and accelerate the rollout of 5G globally.
Taiwanese media: TSMC sets up factories in the US, and the prospects for expansion in Nanjing are unclear
According to industry sources, TSMC’s decision to set up a new plant in the United States and expand its 28nm production capacity in Nanjing seems to be able to smoothly resolve the core shortage crisis. However, the United States still has doubts about TSMC’s Nanjing expansion and whether it can proceed smoothly is unclear.
At present, TSMC has formulated a three-year capital expenditure plan of up to 100 billion U.S. dollars in order to meet the needs of major countries. It has agreed to go to the United States to build a 5nm plant and an advanced packaging plant that may be launched in the future or a further 3nm plan. At the same time, in order to alleviate the global chip shortage, TSMC has spent nearly NT$80 billion to expand its 28nm production in Nanjing.
In this regard, industry insiders pointed out that it is difficult for TSMC to satisfy everyone. From the perspective of Nanjing 28nm plant, TSMC is mainly requested by many customers. In order to solve the shortage of chips for automobiles, the customer base also includes mainland manufacturers.
However, this expansion is only a mature 28nm process, but it has also attracted concerns from the United States. Although the transfer of machinery and equipment has begun, TSMC has also discussed with the United States, but it is still unclear whether the U.S. will eventually hinder it. However, due to the capacity of customers Covering many countries, the opportunity for smooth mass production is still great.
According to DIGITIMES reports, TSMC, UMC, World Advanced and other foundries have signed agreements with Infineon's automotive chip makers, and orders are scheduled to be completed in 2022 and 2023.
Sources said that due to the serious shortage of cores before, automotive chip manufacturers have changed their foundry ordering model, from the "Just in time (JIT)" model to the pre-booked capacity model.
The source also said that automotive suppliers have now begun to build inventories and reserve fab capacity in advance, adding that they are increasingly aware that the current chip shortage is a "structural" problem.
In 2021, the "core shortage" crisis in the global automotive industry will continue. In the first half of this year, many wafer foundries such as UMC, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, World Advanced, etc. raised their quotations by 10%-15% for urgent 8-inch foundry orders and new casting orders. TSMC first cancelled the 12-inch order discount for major customers at the beginning of this year, and orders are currently scheduled to the first half of 2022.
Samsung, TSMC's production capacity is tight, OLED chips may be out of stock
According to the British "Financial Times" report, 90% of the global OLED display chips are currently produced in South Korea, most of which are made by Samsung Electronics, and the remaining OLED chips are produced by TSMC. However, the global chip shortage has made these two companies full of production capacity. According to reports, signs of a shortage of OLED chips are about to emerge. The price of OLED chips in the second quarter has risen by one-fifth, and major companies are hoarding stocks. Due to the low gross profit of OLED chips, Samsung and TSMC will not give priority to the production of these chips, but will focus on high-end chips with large orders.
UMC: The semiconductor structure problem is difficult to solve in the short-term.
According to the Taiwan Media Economic Daily, UMC held a regular shareholder meeting on the 7th. UMC’s joint general manager Jian Shanjie said that the epidemic has impacted the global economy, but the semiconductor market has accelerated due to the epidemic’s acceleration of digital transformation. On the contrary, it has grown substantially. Semiconductor production capacity is in short supply. The production capacity shortage of 12-inch factories and mature processes is even more serious.
Jian Shanjie said that the growth rate of market demand is far greater than the rate of increase in production capacity. This structural problem is difficult to solve in the short term, and the shortage of semiconductor production capacity may continue until 2023. He said that from the perspective of demand trends, the demand for 5G mobile phones, notebook computers and automotive electronics will continue not only this year, but also beyond 2022.
In addition, UMC expects that under the dual benefit fermentation of product price adjustments and optimization, the average selling price of this year's products will rise as expected by about 10% from last year.
Analog IC suppliers will face tighter 8-inch fab capacity in 2022
According to sources, the visibility of 8-inch foundry service orders from TSMC, UMC and Vanguard International SECTOR will continue until 2022. Unless some customers withdraw from the capacity reservation queue for 8-inch fabs, the capacity shortage will be certain. It will last almost the entire next year, and they have encountered difficulties in expanding production capacity.
According to sources, analog IC vendors, including MCUs, are expected to be most affected by the tight 8-inch fab capacity, because they usually rank low in foundry partners due to the low gross profit margin involved. In addition, they are The casting capacity support obtained in the second half of 2021 is still far below the needs of downstream customers, and their promised capacity in 2022 can only meet 70-80% of their needs.
According to sources, as TSMC and other foundries substantially expand their production capacity for automotive chips, including microcomputers, the lead time for automotive microcomputers is expected to be significantly shortened from 30-40 weeks to 15-20 weeks. However, GM Suppliers of niche and niche MCUs see that the casting capacity is squeezed and the delivery time may be further extended.
Thanks to four months of chip inventory, Toyota beat General Motors in the US market for the first time
According to the news from the micronet, the automobile manufacturing industry is undoubtedly the industry most affected in this core shortage. With the production line facing the risk of production cuts or even shutdowns, the establishment of sufficient chip inventories may win opportunities for automakers. It is reported that Japan's Toyota Motor has surpassed General Motors, which is the perennial leader in the US market, for the first time by virtue of this advantage.
According to the Wall Street Journal, data from the two companies show that between April and June, Toyota sold 688,813 vehicles in the United States, defeating General Motors by a small margin of 577. According to data from the car shopping website Edmunds.com, this is the first time Toyota has occupied the top position in the US market.
According to research company LMC Automotive, although other automakers have closed factories due to semiconductor shortages, Toyota has hardly been affected. According to data from LMC, so far this year, the capacity utilization rate of Toyota's plant has exceeded 90%, while the capacity utilization rate of most other automakers is only 50% to 60%. Despite this, Toyota's dealerships in the United States still face a shortage of car supply.
There are signs that when consumers cannot purchase the products they want, they will switch to Toyota.
SMIC: Chip manufacturing is in short supply and plans to expand the production capacity of 12-inch and 8-inch wafers
On July 7, SMIC stated on the interactive platform that the current supply of integrated circuit chip manufacturing is in short supply. The company's overall capacity utilization rate reached 98.7% in the first quarter of 2021. According to the company's CAPEX spending plan this year, it plans to expand the production capacity of 10,000 12-inch and 45,000 8-inch wafers to meet more customer needs.
SMIC pointed out that the overall capacity utilization rate in the first quarter of 2021 was 98.7%. The integrated circuit industry has its volatility cycle. The company will make corresponding price adjustments based on changes in the industry's supply and demand relationship and after good communication with customers.
The monthly production capacity exceeds 70,000 pieces of SMIC's major projects in mass production
According to news from the Zhejiang Daily, SMIC's Shaoxing-based Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (SMIC Shaoxing) has started to ramp up its production capacity to 70,000 wafers/month, with a yield rate of 99%. It is reported that 2020 is a crucial year for the comprehensive construction of Shaoxing's integrated circuit industry platform.
NXP applies GaN to 5G multi-chip modules
NXP Semiconductors announced on the 7th that it will integrate gallium nitride (GaN) technology into the NXP multi-chip module platform, which is an important industry milestone in the field of 5G performance.
NXP’s gallium nitride wafer fab in Arizona is the most advanced wafer fab in the United States that specializes in manufacturing RF power amplifiers. Based on the investment in the wafer fab, NXP is the first to launch a 5G massive MIMO RF solution. The solution combines the high efficiency of GaN with the compactness of multi-chip modules.
Like the previous generation of modules, the new devices are all pin compatible. RF engineers can expand the design of a single power amplifier in multiple frequency bands and power levels, shorten the design cycle time, and accelerate the rollout of 5G globally.
Taiwanese media: TSMC sets up factories in the US, and the prospects for expansion in Nanjing are unclear
According to industry sources, TSMC’s decision to set up a new plant in the United States and expand its 28nm production capacity in Nanjing seems to be able to smoothly resolve the core shortage crisis. However, the United States still has doubts about TSMC’s Nanjing expansion and whether it can proceed smoothly is unclear.
At present, TSMC has formulated a three-year capital expenditure plan of up to 100 billion U.S. dollars in order to meet the needs of major countries. It has agreed to go to the United States to build a 5nm plant and an advanced packaging plant that may be launched in the future or a further 3nm plan. At the same time, in order to alleviate the global chip shortage, TSMC has spent nearly NT$80 billion to expand its 28nm production in Nanjing.
In this regard, industry insiders pointed out that it is difficult for TSMC to satisfy everyone. From the perspective of Nanjing 28nm plant, TSMC is mainly requested by many customers. In order to solve the shortage of chips for automobiles, the customer base also includes mainland manufacturers.
However, this expansion is only a mature 28nm process, but it has also attracted concerns from the United States. Although the transfer of machinery and equipment has begun, TSMC has also discussed with the United States, but it is still unclear whether the U.S. will eventually hinder it. However, due to the capacity of customers Covering many countries, the opportunity for smooth mass production is still great.