1. Research: MCU shipments are expected to decline, but the average price will remain stable
According to foreign media SemiMedia, the market research agency Yole reported that the MCU market will be fiercely competitive in 2022, with NXP, Renesas and Infineon as the top three suppliers in the market, and STMicroelectronics and Microchip performing well. Under market uncertainty and inflation expectations, Yole expects MCU shipments in 2023 to drop by nearly 10% compared to 2022.
The MCU supply chain is overcoming the impact of the epidemic and gradually returning to normal seasonal levels. In addition, the MCU product portfolio is shifting to more advanced and more expensive. On the basis of a 12% increase in the average selling price, the sales revenue of the MCU market will increase by 2%. The average selling price of the MCU market is expected to peak at the level of 0.92 in 2023, and will decline slightly during the forecast period, but will not return to the pre-epidemic level in the foreseeable future.
2. TSMC’s performance declined in the second quarter, and it is expected to recover in the third quarter
Wafer foundry TSMC announced its second quarter performance report for 2023 on the 20th. The consolidated revenue was approximately NT$480.84 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 10% and a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 5.5%; 12.2%. In US dollar terms, revenue in the second quarter of 2023 will be US$15.68 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 13.7% and a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 6.2%. In the second quarter, TSMC’s gross profit margin was 54.1%, its operating profit margin was 42.0%, and its after-tax net profit margin was 37.8%.
TSMC’s 5nm process shipments accounted for 30% of the wafer sales in the second quarter; 7nm process shipments accounted for 23%. Overall, revenue from 7nm and more advanced processes accounted for 53% of the quarterly wafer sales. TSMC expects third-quarter revenue to be between US$16.7 billion and US$17.5 billion, gross profit margin to be between 51.5% and 53.5%, and operating profit margin to be between 38% and 40%.
3. PSMC’s main business recorded a loss in the second quarter, and its revenue decreased by 3.85% quarterly
According to the Taiwan Business Times report, the wafer foundry PSMC announced its second-quarter financial report on the 19th, with consolidated revenue of NT$11.008 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 49.57% and a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 3.85%; the main business operating loss was NT$66 million, gross The interest rate continued to drop to 16.81%, a record low in the past year. However, under the support of non-industry revenue, PSMC recorded a net profit of NT$617 million in the quarter, which rebounded from the bottom of the first quarter, but still decreased by 94.11% compared with the same period last year.
Xie Zaiju, general manager of PSMC, said that after the inventory adjustment since the second half of last year, a small number of urgent orders have been received one after another, but they are all short-term orders of replenishment nature, but there are still no signs of long-term demand recovery. PSMC’s 8-inch and 12-inch capacity utilization rates in a single quarter are roughly around 60%-62%, so the company still holds a conservative view in the second half of the year.
4. It is said that AI applications push up the price of DDR5 memory slightly
According to Taiwan’s Electronic Times quoted by Science and Technology Board Daily, industry insiders revealed that the price of DDR5 memory has risen slightly, which indicates that the market is about to enter the recovery stage from the lowest point. Although the demand of end users has not increased significantly, thanks to the growth of AI demand, storage equipment manufacturers have adjusted the allocation of production capacity and resources, and promoted the first price increase of high-end products.
According to industry insiders, the signal of DDR5 memory price increase will encourage memory module manufacturers and downstream equipment manufacturers to actively replenish inventory. However, the inventory of the entire DRAM market is still very large, and there is limited room for significant price recovery in the second half of this year.
5. Institutions: Mobile phone shipments fell 11% year-on-year in the second quarter
According to TechWeb citing foreign media reports, reports from research institutions show that global smartphone shipments in the second quarter of this year fell by 11% year-on-year. Major manufacturers such as Samsung and Apple all declined compared with the same period last year, but their respective shares did not change much.
Specifically, the manufacturer with the highest shipments is still Samsung, with a share of 21%. Apple’s share was 17%, ranking second. Xiaomi ranks third with a 13% share. OPPO’s share is 10%; vivo’s share is 8%; other manufacturers’ share is 31%. While shipments are still on the decline, research executives believe the smartphone market is showing early signs of recovery after six straight quarters of decline.