A lot of good information around 5G smartphone and infra demand giving some guidance for short and longer-term device forecasts. Results are in the link, but below are the key Q&A highlights.
(TSMC, July 6)
Brady Wang's key takeaways:
- Customers prioritizing supply chain security due to COVID-19 uncertainty.
- Every two years, there will be a new generation of technology coming out to serve top-tier products in terms of performance.
- Inventory in the supply chain is currently very high – 1Q20 was higher than normal, and levels increased further in 2Q20. They will remain high through 2H20.
- However, they are not ruling out possibility of an inventory correction.
- Revenue from all platforms, except automotive, to grow this year.
- 28nm is seeing overcapacity for the whole industry.
- CMOS image sensors and also other applications will move to 28nm, but at a slower rate than expected. (Brady: SONY is lagging behind TSMC in CMOS image sensor manufacturing).
- US regulations do not prohibit shipping standard or general products to Huawei. TSMC thinks Huawei may try to move forward procuring general-purpose products.
- Finally, a large portion of the N5 product will move to N4.