Chip Semiconductor Supply Chain Is Becoming 'fragile'
After two years of explosive growth in the high-tech industry brought about by the epidemic, the overall market conditions of the consumer electronics industry have declined, in sharp contrast to the previous ones. Chen Junsheng, chairman of Acer, bluntly said that the long-whip effect of the electronics industry has occurred, and the current situation of "cold lower, middle temperature, and hot upper" has gradually reduced demand. However, Yang Ruilin, research director of the International Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute, explained in an interview that the inventory backlog caused by manufacturers facing a wave of cutting orders was caused by the repeated orders placed by customers to ensure their chip supply.
Manufacturers face inventory adjustments
The semiconductor industry has experienced a long period of prosperity since the outbreak of the epidemic, and the entire industry has begun to adjust its inventory this year. Wei Zhejiang, President of TSMC, said at the earnings conference that the inventory of consumer electronics products such as smartphones and personal computers is indeed too high, and it will take several quarters to sell out, and it is expected that the inventory will be exhausted in the first half of 2023; Although customers have inventory adjustments, their production capacity can still be steadily improved.
MediaTek CEO Cai Lixing said that inflation affects consumer confidence, and the overall economic market has increased uncertainty, resulting in a decline in chip demand. MediaTek will continue to adjust its inventory, and it is estimated that the annual revenue growth will drop from 20% to 19%. Or 17%. Under such an environment, MediaTek will carefully manage inventory, costs, and expenses, but short-term operations are still unavoidable from headwinds; Wang Shi, co-general manager of UMC, pointed out that UMC’s demand for chips for networks, industries, servers, and vehicles remains stable. Although the smartphone and PC markets have cooled, revenue has remained stable.
