Weekly News

①TSMC's Arizona plant eventually adopt 3nm process.

In addition to Apple and Nvidia, major semiconductor companies such as Advanced Micro Devices(AMD) and Xilinx also plan to purchase chips from TSMC's Arizona plant, the unnamed sources said. Initially, TSMC planned to produce 20,000 wafers per month at the Arizona plant, but now it intends to double that, as well as to produce more advanced chips. At first, TSMC planned to import the 4- and 5-nm process technology at the Arizona plant, but now the company plans to adopt 3-nm process and produce an additional 20,000 wafers per month. By 2026, TSMC will triple Arizona investment to $40 billion for the second plant. The more advanced plant will be built next year, and produce 3nm chips by 2026.

(Comment:As early as May 2020, TSMC announced that it would build wafer fab in the United States. Affected by the high cost of building a factory in the USA and the geopolitical struggle between China and the USA, the period has been full of twists and turns. Morris Chang once said that the cost of making chips in Arizona may be at least 50% higher than in Taiwan, while according to the data from Counterpoint Research, TSMC accounted for 54% of total foundry revenue globally last year, with more than half of its revenue coming from U.S. customers.)

②BYD sales hit fresh records continuously, and announced its November sales report.

On December 2, BYD announced its November sales data. BYD Auto sold about 230,400 vehicles in November, with a year-on-year increase of 134%. Among them, a total of 22,990 passenger cars were sold including exports. This is the third time that BYD has sold more than 200,000 vehicles in a single month. In the new energy vehicle market, taking the data of October as an example, the sales volume of BYD is almost the sum of the sales of the second to tenth, and the market share is as high as 37%, which means every 10 new energy vehicles sold in China in October, at least 3 of them were BYD. The annual sales target of BYD for this year is 1.5 million, and from January to November 2022, BYD Auto sold a total of 1,641,819 vehicles. It has already achieved the annual sales target one month ahead of schedule.

(Comment：Chinese?domestic new energy passenger vehicles exported 82,000 units in November in China, and BYD exceeded 12,000 units. BYD relies on its strong R&D strength of software and hardware and years of technology accumulation to continuously consolidate its leading position in the new energy vehicle industry. Compared with October, the export volume of domestically produced new energy vehicles decreased in November. Previous reports released by the National Passenger Cars Association show that in October, 103,000 domestically produced new energy passenger vehicles were exported, and in November, 82,000 were exported, with a decrease of 21,000 from the previous month.）

③Nio to install 20 battery-swapping stations in EnBW charging parks.

Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO?will install swapping stations, where drivers can switch their car battery for a fully-charged one, at 20 charging parks in Germany owned by utility EnBW.

EnBW's first station in Zusmarshausen, between Munich and Stuttgart of Germany, started to run at the end of September in collaboration with charging operator Sortimo and mobile technology company TSG.In early October this year, NIO?announced that it would establish a complete operating system consisting of products and services in four countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.It will provide personalized services to users of four countries with a flexible and innovative subscription model, NIO?said.Its three latest vehicles -- ET7, EL7 and ET5 -- are available for pre-order in these four countries via the subscription model. Soon after that, NIO carried out in-person trial activities and ET7 delivery in the four countries.

At that time, NIO?reported that it had constructed 380,000 charging posts directly accessed by NIO NFC card before the firm would build a entire power supply system in Europe. The European charging station has also been operated. NIO?intends to build 20 power charging stations in Europe by the end of 2022. The figure is expected to reach 120 by the end of 2023.

The company invests over 100 million euros($105.26 million) a year in expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and plans to expand its partnership with NIO to install more swapping stations in future, the EnBW’s statement said.

(Comment:On November 10, NIO Inc. released the third quarter financial report. The total revenues in the third quarter of 2022 were about RMB 13 billion, representing an increase of 32.6% year on year. The net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of NIO Inc. was RMB 4.1423 billion, a year-on-year increase of 44.9% and a month-on-month increase of 50.9%. The delivery guidance for the fourth quarter of 2022 is 43,000-48,000 units, and the revenue guidance is RMB 17.37 billion-19.23 billion.)

④Murata Alarm: the possibility of needs decline for smart phone may constraint the market for passive components.

"Considering inventory of mobile phones in the market, it is expected that the demand for smart phone will be further downward," Satsumi Nakajima, president of Murata manufacturing which is global leading of passive components, said in a recent interview,“hopefully,the pace of decrease is slight." Nakajima's comments confirmed the decline in consumer spending, which has been hurt by a rise of interest rate and inflation and persistently weak economic growth. Although Murata is pessimistic about the market, some major MLCC manufacturers have been immediately reducing the proportion of standard products in recent years, focusing on benefit markets such as vehicles, and optimizing their product mix.

The end-use requirements for consumers such as laptop computers and smart phones, tend to freeze. It is estimated to take six months on the adjustment of inventory of standard products, noted YAGEO Group. The company aims to manufacture special products with an account of over 80%.Tongxin Electronics a packaging manufacturer for COMS image sensor also warned that the current inventory of smartphone keeps rising.When it comes to the third quarter in 2023, Tongxin Electronics related business will be expected to bounce back from the shock of accumulative inventory of Mobile phone that image sensor components suppliers may need more than two to three quarters to adjust.

(Comment：Many major MLCC manufacturers are actively expanding downstream application fields such as communication base stations, automotive electronics and routers to further enhance their brand influence and market penetration. When the downturn in the smartphone market will be reversed is of great significance to the whole industry chain. For now, that turning point may not be seen until the second half of next year.）

⑤Samsung, LG Plan to Invest Additional Multi-Billions in Vietnam.

According?Samsung Electronics, the largest single foreign investor in Vietnam, will increase its total investment from $18 billion to $20 billion Vietnam News Agency reported. The additional investment will further firm up Vietnam as Samsung's key production site.

In a separate statement, the Vietnamese government said LG would invest another $4 billion in the country, making it a smartphone camera production hub.LG has invested $5.3 billion in Vietnam to produce products including electronics, home appliances, cameras and auto parts by now.

Choo Kyung-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced Monday that Korea and Vietnam jointly seek to build the cooperative relationship in supply chain and strive to raise bilateral trade to $100 billion next year at the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum, cited Yonhap News Agency.

The minister proposed to wide the cooperate territories such as smart city, Smart cities, information and communication technology, renewable energy and environmental infrastructure by this way the transformation to green digital can be pushed successfully.

（Comment：Over the past decade, Vietnam has emerged as one of the most attractive production centers for global electronics companies. However, Vietnam has also been hit by production cuts this year due to weaker global demand for consumer electronics. Samsung has previously cut smartphone production in Vietnam twice in response to global demand decline reportedly.）