1. Infineon: The shortage of automotive MCUs may ease in the second half of the year, and the automotive production capacity is sold out this fiscal year
According to Kechuang Daily citing Taiwan Electronics Times, Infineon said a few days ago that the shortage of automotive MCUs is expected to ease in the second half of the year. In addition, with the continuous development of electric vehicles and assisted driving technology, customers are now more willing to sign capacity reservation agreements or sign long-term orders to ensure semiconductor supply.
In fiscal year 2023, the production capacity of Infineon’s automotive business products has been fully booked. The company noted that it was able to shift some of its MOSFET capacity to production for renewable energy and power infrastructure due to weaker demand prospects in the consumer market.
2. ON Semiconductor’s Q4 revenue increased year-on-year last year, and the automotive business hit a new high
According to the IT House report, semiconductor company ON Semiconductor’s fourth-quarter performance announcement for fiscal year 2022 showed that revenue for the quarter was US$2.104 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.9%, and a month-on-month decrease of 4.1%; the gross profit margin in the fourth quarter was 48.5%, a year-on-year increase of 343%. basis points, and higher than the previous quarter’s 48.3%; net profit was 604 million US dollars, an increase of 41.9% year-on-year and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 93.7%. ON Semiconductor’s automotive business revenue in the quarter was US$989 million, a year-on-year increase of 54%, a record high.
As of December 31, 2022, ON Semiconductor’s fiscal year 2022 revenue was US$8.326 billion, an increase of 24%, a record high; gross profit margin increased to 49.0%, higher than the previous year’s 40.3%; net profit was US$1.902 billion, an increase of 88.4% %.
3. UMC’s revenue has declined for 5 consecutive months, and the capacity utilization rate has dropped to 70%
According to the Taiwan Business Times, the wafer foundry UMC’s combined revenue in January was NT$19.59 billion, the fifth consecutive month of decline, with a monthly decrease of 6.5% and a year-on-year decrease of 4.3%.
The consumer market has entered a wave of drastic inventory adjustment since the second half of last year, and IC design factories around the world have begun to reduce their production momentum, which has caused UMC’s capacity utilization rate to drop to about 70% in the first quarter. At present, some consumer IC design factories are planning to continue to reduce their production capacity in the second quarter, which means that only large IC design factories and automotive electronics customers are left to support their production capacity. In the second quarter, it will increase its production capacity, which will give UMC a chance to increase its capacity utilization rate slightly.
The legal person estimates that UMC’s single-quarter consolidated revenue performance may drop by about 10% quarter-on-quarter, and it may start to heat up in the second quarter at the earliest. Back to more than 90% level.
4. The supply chain is under pressure, and Global Wafer’s revenue in January fell month-on-month
According to the Taiwan Economic Daily quoted by IT Home, the financial data of the silicon wafer factory Universal Crystal shows that revenue in January 2023 was NT$5.929 billion, a decrease of 1.9% from the previous month and a year-on-year increase of 13.6%.
Analysts pointed out that in the fourth quarter, some customers of Universal Crystal wanted to slightly delay the time for silicon wafer purchases. It can be seen that there is still inventory pressure in the supply chain and weak signals in the market. It is expected that revenue in the first quarter will be under pressure, and performance in the second half of the year will be lower. pick up. According to analysts, Universal Crystal’s 12-inch and 8-inch production capacity are currently at full capacity, and even with flexible adjustments, there will not be too much difference. There are still new long-term contracts signed, and the long-term demand is still quite optimistic.
5. Western Digital will further reduce factory investment, and NAND flash production will be cut by 30%
According to TechWeb citing foreign media reports, Western Digital, the world’s fourth largest NAND flash memory manufacturer, has announced to cut production and reduce investment in factories. Western Digital lowered its plant investment for fiscal 2023 to $2.3 billion. In terms of production of NAND flash memory, Western Digital announced a 30% reduction from current levels, which is the first time it has announced a reduction in production capacity.
Among the major storage manufacturers, only Samsung has announced that its investment in factories this year will be equivalent to last year, and the proportion of R&D investment will increase. Some analysts pointed out that the increase in the proportion of R&D investment means that Samsung will actually reduce production.
6. Gartner: Apple is the world’s largest semiconductor buyer in 2022
According to the Science and Technology Daily on the 7th, according to the latest data released by the market research organization Gartner, the chip spending of the world’s top ten OEMs in 2022 will drop by 7.6% year-on-year, accounting for 37.2% of the entire market. Apple will become the world’s largest semiconductor buyer with an 11.1% market share in 2022.