01.Supply chain: Automotive chip may remain in short supply until 2024
Dec. 8, 2022, According to insiders in the automotive supply chain, although the supply of automotive chips has improved recently, the shortage is unlikely to be completely resolved before 2024, because the increase in supply cannot keep up with the rapid growth in demand.
In response to continued chip shortages, some automakers have begun tweaking 2023 vehicle designs so they can source chips with the same functionality from more than two suppliers. In this way, the impact of the shortage of automotive chips on production can be reduced.
Sources pointed out that if a foundry has been verified by automotive customers, it will take at least six months to convert its process capabilities to make automotive chips. For the process capability that has not yet been verified for automotive chip production, it will take 2 to 3 years to complete the verification. Therefore, it will take longer to solve the shortage of automotive chips from capacity expansion.
02.GlobalWafers: Demand for small-size silicon wafers falls
Dec. 9, 2022, According to the performance recently released by the silicon wafer manufacturer GlobalWafers, the company achieved revenue of NT$6.046 billion in November, a decrease of 3.96% month-on-month and an increase of 10.12% year-on-year. The cumulative revenue in the first 11 months was NT$64.239 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15.06%.
GlobalWafers pointed out that as the semiconductor industry continued to decline, many customers adjusted capital expenditures. Affected by rising inflation and continued decline in consumer confidence, demand for consumer electronics products is weak.
GlobalWafers noted that shipments of its small-size products have slowed, leading to higher inventories. However, GlobalWafers expects to gradually achieve destocking in the first half of next year. Large-size and special wafers (FZ, SOI) are driven by strong growth in automotive electronics and other applications, and are in full production.
GlobalWafers expects that next year will still face multiple uncertainties, so the situation next year is still difficult to predict.
03.Automotive memory market growing at 20% CAGR
Driven by electrification, smart cockpit and ADAS, automotive is the fastest-growing memory market segment, with a 20% CAGR between 2021 and 2027, says Yole Developpement.
“We forecast automotive memory revenues will reach 17% of the automotive semiconductor market by 2027 – a 20% CAGR21-27 -+ outperforming the global memory market with 8% CAGR 21-27 and the automotive semiconductor market with 10% CAGR 21-27,” says Yole’s Thibault Grossi.,
Micron leads with an estimated market share of 45% by revenue. Samsung follows distantly behind in 2nd place with a ~13% market share. Then, Infineon Technologies, Kioxia, SK Hynix, and ISSI are all behind Samsung, with market shares of ≤7%.
04.TSMC triples US investment to $40bn
As it holds a tool move-in ceremony at its Arizona fab today, TSMC says its original planned $12 billion investment in the US will now be $40 billion.
The additional investment will be to build equip and start production at a 3nm fab by 2026.
TSMC plans to start its first US production with a 4nm process in 2024.
05.GlobalFoundries to cut 800 jobs worldwide
Dec. 6, 2022, According to reports, GlobalFoundries plans to lay off more than 800 employees worldwide in December, accounting for 5.7% of the company's 14,000 global employees.
Most of the layoffs will be in non-manufacturing jobs, such as executives, the report said. U.S. and Singapore employees will be notified of layoffs next week. Employees in Germany will be notified later, as the country has stricter laws protecting workers.
GlobalFoundries CEO Caulfield has recently warned that the company will have to cut costs to prepare for falling demand for semiconductors as the world economy slows and faces a possible recession.
06.Foundries defy chipmarket downturn
TSMC’s sales in November were more than 50 percent above the same month a year before as the world’s leading foundry continued to defy the slowdown in the global chip market.
However, November sales revenue at UMC, the second-largest pure-play chip foundry, was down sequentially and the annual growth of 14.7 percent was down considerably on the previous ten months. This suggests that UMC is starting to feel the impact of push outs and dropping capacity utilization.
But TSMC’s sales continues to motor and driving the company to a record growth year. TSMC’s net revenue in November 2022 was approximately NT$222.71 billion (about US$7.27 billion. This was up sequentially by 5.9 percent from October 2022 and an increase of 50.2 percent from November 2021.
07.Intel predicts customer inventory digestion to continue until 2023
Dec. 7, 2022, According to reports, Intel CFO David Zinner mentioned in a recent interview that the customer's inventory digestion may not end at the end of this year and may continue to 2023.
Zinner pointed out that Intel was not sure whether the semiconductor industry would recover in the first quarter of 2023 in view of the global economic downturn. Intel is still coping with customers' inventory digestion, which may not end at the end of this year, but will last until next year.
According to Zinner's statement, analysts believe that Intel's performance in the first quarter of next year may be about 5% lower than expected, and its gross profit margin and profit may be lower than expected.