The Tech Week that Was... Mar 6~10

Welcome to the latest edition of my weekly newsletter bringing you all the key semiconductor and technology news from around the world in one easy read.?

This week the Taiwan foundries and OSAT’s released their February revenue numbers and we get a chance to see how the semiconductor segment in 2023 is fairing without the complications of year end push outs and the short month due to CNY holiday.

Almost foundries and OSAT’s reported sequential declines of revenue in February, whilst on a year on basis only TSMC showed growth, all other foundries and OSAT’s showed declining revenue.

For TSMC revenue declined -18% compared to January to US$5.29billion, the lowest revenue since February last year. ?However on an annual basis TSMC reported it’s highest ever February revenue increasing 11% yoy. ?The sequential decline in revenue is reported to be due to 5 of its top customers AMD, Nvidia, Mediatek, Qualcomm and Intel, all scaling back orders due to the global slowdown.?The largest OSAT ASE reported a -5% sequential decline and a -11% yoy decline in revenue in February.

Samsung Electronics reported that its semiconductor division saw its inventory held increase by 77% last year according it to its annual report. The increase in inventory was due to weak demand for semiconductors around the world, especially memory.?The semiconductor division’s inventory rose to US$22billion, whilst the ASP of chips dropped -17%.

Samsung is reported to be recruiting key workers from it’s rivals and top tech companies around the world such as Apple, TSMC and Qualcomm as it seeks to take the in the tech industry.?Samsung recently hired TSMC veteran chip packaging expert Lin Jing-Cheng as it’s executive vice president to accelerate the development of advanced back-end processes.

Compound semiconductor wafer manufacturer IQE said it expects FY22 results to remain inline with its previous update of around US$200million, up 8% compared to 2021.?However it sees that the 1st half of 2023 will be worse than previously forecast due to a reduction in customer orders, with revenue expected to be down -US$36miilion.?CEO Americo Lemos said he expects IQE to return to growth in 2nd half of 2023.

Global semiconductor sales dropped -5% month on month in January according to the latest data from WSTS.?Global semiconductor industry sales totaled $41.3 billion in 2023, down -18.5% yoy due to the global market slowdown.?The biggest falls were seen in US and China regions.??

This week there were media reports that TSMC was considering building a new Fab in Singapore and pushing the timescale for a new Fab in Europe as Singapore was offering better tax benefits and subsidies on water and electricity.?However on Friday TSMC rejected the recent media comments saying it was still considering setting up a Fab in Europe and rejecting reports it was turning its attention to Singapore.

The Netherlands government said this week it plans new export restrictions on semiconductor technology to protect national security, following the previous curbs by the US. However the government has not yet defined the details of the additional restrictions. The new restrictions will be introduced before the summer. ??The Chinese government responded by saying it is opposed the Dutch plan saying it limits normal economic and trade exchanges between Chinese and Dutch companies.

The US government is also reported to be preparing to further tighten restrictions on exporting semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China with companies having been briefed on the plan and told to expect the restrictions to be announced as early as April.

South Korea’s trade chief has been on a 3 day trip to the US for talks amid growing fears over the adverse impact of the US Chips Act on Korean chipmakers. ?The trade ministry said that “Korea will make points that the conditions would deepen business uncertainties, violate companies' own technology and management rights, and make the U.S. less attractive as an investment destination," and stressing that for Korean companies' "normal operation" is needed to ensure supply chains of global semiconductors.

Suppliers to litho equipment manufacturer ASML are reported to be considering building plants in Southeast Asia instead of China due to the current political tensions between the US and China. Next week dozens of tech companies will visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore on a trip organised by a Dutch development agency.

Chinese chips imports fell -31% in value to US$47.8billion in the first 2 months of 2023 as US sanctions start to bite.?Imports fell to 67.6billion units, down 27% yoy, with the decline being larger than the -15% decline seen for the whole of 2022.?

That's all for this week. If you enjoyed the newsletter, please “like” or share the article and if you have not already done so why don't you subscribe and automatically stay up to date with all the industry news in your inbox.

Stay safe and healthy... bye