The post-holiday recovery has started, and the hot spots tend to be inductance/sensing/interface materials

In February, the financial reports of automotive core manufacturers were announced. The revenue and profit growth of Infineon, ON Semiconductor, NXP, and Renesas in 2023 generally slowed down, and the demand situation in 2024 is expected to pose greater challenges.

In terms of industry dynamics, on February 1, Infineon announced the establishment of cooperation with Honda in the fields of power devices, ADAS and other fields; Qorvo announced an operating loss of US$42 million and announced that it would acquire wireless chip supplier Anokiwave; Microchip announced that its revenue and profits were both year-on-year If the price falls sharply, its manufacturing plants will be shut down in Q1 and Q2 respectively. On the 2nd, it was reported that Samsung’s 3nm GAA process trial production yield rate was zero. On the 5th, it was reported that Power Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. will join forces with Japan's startup PowerSpin to produce MRAM on a 12-inch production line. On the 6th, a TrendForce report from TrendForce pointed out that large-size panels are facing rising prices. On the 8th, it was reported that EDA giant Synopsys plans to sell its software integrity business unit worth more than US$3 billion. On the 15th, Renesas announced that it would acquire Altium, a PCB design software manufacturer, for A$9.1 billion. On the 17th, reports came out that Nvidia’s AI GPU delivery period has been shortened to 3-4 months; Kioxia has proposed to produce NAND flash memory for SK Hynix and has resumed merger negotiations with Western Digital. On the 19th, it was reported that the US wafer foundry GlobalFoundries will receive a US$1.5 billion subsidy provided by the "Chip Act". On the 20th, it was reported that TSMC’s existing process capacity utilization rate had fully recovered, and the 2-nanometer progress was better than expected; the major automotive T1 manufacturer Freya announced that it would lay off 10,000 people within five years. On the 21st, it was reported that Samsung Pyeongtaek P5 plant had suspended construction in response to declining demand for semiconductors. On the 22nd, ASE Holdings, a major packaging and testing company, announced the acquisition of two back-end packaging and testing plants from Infineon. On the 23rd, Intel confirmed that its next-generation CPU would be produced by TSMC using a 3-nanometer process; ADI announced that it would use TSMC’s JASM factory in Kumamoto, Japan, to produce chips. On the 24th, TSMC’s Kumamoto Factory JASM officially opened, introducing multiple mature process nodes and officially mass-producing it by the end of the year. On the 26th, Micron announced the start of mass production of HBM3E products, leading the two major Korean manufacturers. On the 27th, it was reported in the industry that Texas Instruments had laid off its domestic power chip design team. On the 28th, Infineon announced that it would reorganize its sales structure into three parts: "automotive", "industry and infrastructure" and "consumption, computing and communications"; the U.S. court ruled that Fujian Jinhua was not guilty; Apple announced the cancellation of its electric vehicle project. An all-in move toward generative AI. On the 29th, Intel announced that the independent FPGA company would revert to the Altera name and would be listed on the market; Power Semiconductor announced that it would assist the Tata Group in building India's first 12-inch wafer fab.

IC demand and supply

In February, the demand for materials from major brands such as TI, ST, ADI, NXP, Infineon, and Microchip is still to be recovered. Original factory delivery times continue to improve, and there are many spot stocks in the market. Based on the main tone of the destocking phase, spot stocks and orders are scheduled The phenomenon of price inversion is still present. ADI's price increase for mature products currently has little impact on the market, but the delivery time for original factory cores and industrial control materials is relatively long. The delivery time for ON Semiconductor's industrial control and automotive regulatory materials is still relatively long. In terms of passive components, Murata's inductance material stocking demand continues, and the market inventory of LQH and DLW series materials is generally short-ordered, but other passive materials have no obvious fluctuations. In terms of storage, Korean original manufacturers and Micron have increased their investment in high-end products such as HBM and DDR5. Mainstream DRAM is still focused on controlling quantity and ensuring price, which is reflected in the demand side and continues to rise in price. NAND flash memory continues the previous trend of controlling supply and is expected to rise. Prices will also continue.