TSMC has plans to allocated US$25-28 billion in capex for 2021, with over US$15 billion of the foundry house's record budget to be spent on advancing its 3nm process node. The foundry has disclosed that it is on track to move its 3nm process to risk production later this year, and start volume in second-half 2022. Meanwhile, Taiwan's PCB sector also registered record output in 2020 at over US$23.8 billion.TSMC to spend over US$15 billion on 3nm process in 2021: Of TSMC's planned record-high capex for 2021, more than US$15 billion will be spent on advancing the foundry's 3nm process technology, according to industry sources.TSMC on track to move 3nm process to risk production in 2021: TSMC is on track to move 3nm process technology to risk production in 2021 followed by volume production in the second half of 2022, according to the pure-play foundry.Taiwan PCB output value hits record high in 2020: The output of Taiwan's PCB industry grew 5.6% on year to a record high of NT$667.2 billion (US$23.83 billion) in 2020, bolstered by pandemic-induced stay-at-home economy in most of the year as well as robust shipments for new iPhones and automotive electronics in the second half, according to Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA).

TSMC has reported strong sales and profits for 2020, and the world's top pure-play foundry house expects to post another record revenue for first-quarter 2021. Tight foundry supply is creating shortages in the IC supply chain, and Chinese handset vendors have stepped up efforts trying to secure supply of components to support their expansions in the domestic market at the expense ot Huawei, which has been hit hard by US sanctions.Meanwhile, Samsung is mulling increasing NAND flash output in a bid to maintain its market leadership, and in supoport of such a bid the Koean vendor is likely to cut prices for NAND.TSMC expects another record in 1Q21 revenue: TSMC expects to post revenues of between US$12.7 billion and US$13 billion in the first quarter of 2021, which is a 1.3% sequential increase at the midpoint. Gross margin and operating margin for the quarter are estimated at 50.5-52.5% and 39.5-41.5%, respectively.China smartphone vendors step up chips, components procurement: Chinese handset vendors Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi (OVX) have stepped up their purchases of ICs and basic components for their smartphones as part of their efforts to expand presence in the China market in 2021, according to Taiwan-based IC distributors, which have seen their inventory levels drop as a result.Samsung considers lowering NAND flash prices as early as 1Q21, sources say: Samsung Electronics may initiate price cuts on its NAND flash chips as early as the end of the first quarter of 2021, which may trigger a price war among major NAND flash chipmakers, according to industry sources.

LitePoint, a US-based wireless test solution provider, offers turnkey over-the-air test solutions from development to production, combined with software automation that makes testing of FR2 devices easy in both characterization as well as volume manufacturing.In a recent interview, Lite-Point president Brad Robbins, talks about the development of the 5G market, and what it means for the wireless test solutions sector.Q: As more 5G phone models become available in the market, what do you see the development of 5G market today?A: Despite COVID-19's unprecedented disruption on a global scale, in 2020 we saw 5G adoption rates grow dramatically. While the total number of mobile shipments decreased in 2020, 5G mobile shipments grew from just over 10 million units in 2019 to 180-200 million units in 2020. We are very early in the global deployment, but 5G is living up to its promise of better mobile access. In existing sub-6GHz (FR1) spectrum, 5G operates more efficiently, providing more capacity for operators in their existing spectrum. This results in a better user-experience for the end-user, particularly in densely-populated urban areas where LTE capacity is strained. As mobile operators enable more "mid-band" spectrum and MIMO, 5G devices really start to deliver on the promise of faster connectivity.The most dramatic demonstration of the power of 5G is in the mmWave (FR2) 5G spectrum, where >1 Gbps data connections are being achieved. Apple's recent product introduction shows that mmWave is practical to add to a handset, though the deployment of mmWave networks is currently contained to somewhat narrow areas of urban centers. As the build out of mmWave networks continues, this will provide the next major leap in available data capacity, allowing carriers to move beyond the mobile phone and broadly deploy fixed-wireless to offices and residences. We are still early in the roll out of 5G, but the adoption rate is growing faster than what we saw with 4G.Q: There are several testing solution companies with general purpose test and measurement solutions. What makes LitePoint testing solutions so unique compared to others?A: Achieving optimized production economics requires a test system that is optimized for production. 5G device production requires both an optimized solution for the sub-6GHz (FR1) band, where the calibration and testing is primarily performed in a conducted (cabled) environment, as well as the mmWave (FR2) band, where testing is performed over-the-air (OTA). For FR1 devices, LitePoint's production solutions provide industry-leading performance in power accuracy, signal quality, and spectrum bandwidth.LitePoint's offerings additionally cover the upcoming 5G NR-U and Wi-Fi 6E frequencies up to 7.3GHz, with a future proof 200 MHz of bandwidth to cover mid-band carrier aggregation scenarios. For FR2 mmWave devices, LitePoint provides the simplest solution for manufacturing compared to other offerings, with the entire solution integrated into a single box with a calibrated interface. This greatly simplifies the setup, maintenance, and reliability on the production floor, enabling device manufacturers to ensure that they deliver high yield with high up-time in manufacturing. Additionally, LitePoint offers turnkey over-the-air test solutions from development to production, including test chambers, antennas, and switching accessories, combined with software automation that makes testing of FR2 devices easy in both characterization as well as volume manufacturing.Q: As mid-price or lower cost sub-6 GHz 5G phones get more popular in the market, manufacturers are facing the challenges of testing time increasing and slow down the big volume production, what do you think how to help them to resolve the impacts?A: In addition to ensuring shipment qualify, test time is, of course, one of the next biggest focuses for production testing. One technique that we have been pioneering at LitePoint is providing solutions that test multiple devices at the same time with a single tester. This effectively enables the per-device test time to reduce, providing a lower cost per unit. Additionally, as a leader in production testing, we work very closely with the chipset providers to help develop or deploy new techniques to optimize test times. An example of this is the trend towards Sequence Based Test, which dramatically reduces the number of required communication transactions between the device under test (DUT) and the test solution. Instead of having one setup command per test, which occurs hundreds of times, a pre-defined list of setups can be loaded and setup before performing hundreds of measurements. Reducing this communication time provides an impressive reduction in the test time, potentially delivering up to 70% improvement over traditional test methodologies.Q: On the other hand, the OTA test for 5G phone in the mass production lines, will the testing chambers require the new arrangement of production lines? What do you see the OTA test challenges in big volume production?A: The concept of performing OTA testing on the production line is not new. In 4G LTE devices, it is common to perform some simple OTA testing of the phone at the end of the line. This test ensures that the final assembly of the phone, including the antenna and embedded software, have been correctly installed. This testing is performed in the near field and typically has relatively loose PASS/FAIL limits. For 5G, the addition of mmWave technology requires phone makers to provide a higher-quality OTA test with tighter PASS/FAIL limits. One advantage to mmWave technology is that the far field distances are significantly shorter than for sub-6GHz frequencies, making the size of production test chambers practical for the manufacturing floor. For example, the far field measuring distance for a typical mmWave antenna array for a phone can be <10 cm, which enables the placement of an appropriately designed measurement antenna very close to the DUT. It is common for the DUT to have multiple mmWave antenna arrays, so the production test chamber must be designed to support flexible placement of multiple measurement antennas.There are technical challenges that must be addressed to efficiently perform high-quality OTA testing in the manufacturing environment. First, the setup and calibration of the OTA chamber must be accurate and repeatable. mmWave antennas are highly directional, requiring the mechanical alignment to be very precise. For the measurement antenna setup, this can involve the use of a laser alignment tool to ensure that the antenna is focused on the center of the DUT antenna array. To ensure repeatable placement of the DUT antenna array, custom milled DUT holders are required which enable subsequent placements of devices to reliably return to the expected location in the test chamber. Another challenge in 5G OTA testing is overcoming the significant path loss - the decrease in the signal power between the DUT antenna and the tester connection. It is very common to see >50 dB of path loss in a 5G OTA setup - compare this to <10 dB in a conducted (cabled) test setup. This large amount of path loss needs to be accurately calibrated in the setup so that it can be corrected in the measurement of the DUT.Q: Both Qualcomm and MediaTek launched silicon chips for Millimeter Wave (mmWave) 5G devices. And both are investing more resources in ramping up mmWave development as they plan to roll out their respective next-generation 5G chips. What do you see the further challenges for mmWave testing solution?A: Though mmWave is new to consumer products, the technology is well-understood from its military and aerospace roots. The main challenge is scaling from "boutique" low volume to mass-market high volume. To enable this, an area of focus for LitePoint has been simplicity. Multi-component test setups in the lab can be powerful and flexible, but they are complicated and time consuming to setup, require specialized knowledge, and are very problematic to repeatably deploy on a large number of test stations on a manufacturing floor. The LitePoint approach was to develop an optimized tool for the production environment: fully-integrated, simple to setup, and delivers repeatable results without the need for highly-skilled technicians. For mmWave technology to become widely deployed in consumer products, the manufacture and test of these products needs to be as simple as the sub-6GHz wireless technologies. Our DNA is simple, robust, and repeatable equipment for manufacturing.Brad Robbins, president of LitePoint

As 5G and Wi-Fi 6 are becoming the mainstream specifications for the IT market in 2021, Taiwan's III-V IC companies are expected to maintain a high utilization in the year. Server shipments are also anticipated to grow strongly in 2021 thanks to the releases of Intel's 10nm Ice Lake Xeon server processors and brisk demand from cloud applications. As demand for IT products remains robust, DRAM continues to suffer from shortages in 2021 with makers having already raised the prices of the products as a response.III-V IC players enjoy high capacity utilization for 5G, Wi-Fi 6 applications: Taiwan's III-V IC firms including GaAs foundries Win Semiconductors and Advanced Wireless Semiconductor (AWSC) as well as epi-wafer suppliers Visual Photonics Epitaxy (VPEC) and Intelligent Epitaxy Technology (IntelliEPI) are expected to sustain high capacity utilization in 2021, as 5G handset sales and Wi-Fi 6 wireless communication applications are on track to grow robustly, according to industry sources.Server makers turn optimistic about 2021 on Intel new processors: With Intel ramping up its 10nm Ice Lake Xeon server processor output, Taiwan's server makers have turned optimistic about their shipment prospects for 2021 and may embrace the strongest-ever first quarter in the year also bolstered by continued strong demand for cloud applications, according to industry sources.DRAM prices to rise through 2Q21: DRAM contract market prices have risen 5-10% in the first quarter of 2021, and will continue their rally in the second quarter, according to sources at memory module makers.

Global smartphone shipments suffered an annual 8.8% decline to 1.24 billion units in 2020, as the rampage of the coronavirus pandemic crippled handset demand and shipments, Digitimes Research has found.But countering the adverse market trend, worldwide shipments of 5G-enabled phones reached as high as 280-300 million units in 2020, up from the 20 million units shipped a year earlier.Global smartphone shipments dove over 20% on year in the first quarter of 2020, fell by a double-digit rate in the second, and narrowed the decline to a single digit in the third, before staging a single-digit rebound in the fourth, Digitimes Research's figures show.The top-6 smartphone brands in 2020 were: Samsung Electronics, Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo. Among them, Apple and Xiaomi managed to ramp up their respective shipments by over 10% from a year earlier, while both Samsung and Huawei saw their shipments dip by a double-digit rate.

With the persisting pandemic driving the stay-at-home economy, notebook makers saw strong shipments in December 2020, with the likelihood that order momentum will last through second-half 2021. Strong demand and rising production costs amid components shortages are prompting ODMs to consider raising notebook manufacturing prices. UMC, which is also raising prices for its foundry services, has seen extra pressure on supply of its 8-inch wafer capacity after a recent power outage at its fabs. Notebook demand still encouraging: Taiwan-based notebook ODMs are expected to enjoy a particularly strong first quarter of 2021 as they continue to see strong demand from clients, with order momentum set to last through the second half of the year, according to industry sources.Notebook ODMs mull price hikes: Notebook ODMs are considering hiking their quotes to reflect rising costs of components, transportation and other expenses, according to market sources.UMC 8-inch fab capacity may tighten further: A recent power outage at UMC's 8-inch wafer fabs may exert pressure on its already-tight supply of 8-inch wafer capacity, according to industry sources.

Tight supply and strong demand are pushing prices up in the secomiconductor sector, ranging from product pricing and manufacturing service quotes. Foundry houses have seen IC designers come knocking on their doors offering higher prices in return for more capacity in third-quarter 2021. Nanya Technology expects DRAM pricing to rally through second-quarter 2021 due to undersupply in the market. And Phison Electronics, which has just raised its NAND flash controller prices by 15-20%, is already mulling hiking them further in March-April. Taiwan fabless chipmakers to strive for additional foundry support in 3Q21: Taiwan-based IC design houses intend to offer higher prices in order to obtain more support from their foundry partners during the third quarter of 2021, according to sources at Taiwan's first-tier fabless chipmakers.DRAM prices to rise through 2Q21, says Nanya: DRAM prices will start to rally in the first quarter and rise through the second quarter of 2021, due to undersupply in the market, according to chipmaker Nanya Technology.Phison may further raise prices for NAND controllers in March-April: NAND flash memory controller specialist Phison Electronics has just raised quotes for its products by 15-20% to reflect tight supply and increased manufacturing costs, and may determine whether to further hike prices in March-April, according to company chairman KS Pua.

Samsung Electronics is expected to adopt a two-pronged approach to push the sales of its QLED and microLED TVs in 2021, in response to fellow company LG Electronics' efforts to promote its rollable OLED TVs, according to Digitimes Research.Samsung's QLED TVs integrate quantum dots (QD) and OLED technologies. However, in order to improve the performance such as power consumption and brightness, and to address the screen burn-in issue, the company also plans to develop QNED (QD+nano LED) technology in 2021.Samsung plans to launch its 110-inch micro TVs globally in the first quarter of 2021 and it may come out with rollable micro LED technology if it continues to push related technology, .While LG also boasts the capability of producing microLED TVs, the company will decide whether to launch such products depending on market trends.Samsung and LG would contract the manufacture of their QLED and rollable OLED TVs, respectively, to third-party companies for better cost control, with the former alone likely to raise the outsourcing ratio to 20% in 2021, Digitimes Research estimates.In response to the rise of local TV brands in China, Samsung and LG have also gradually withdrawn their TV assembly business from China to Vietnam or Indonesia, aiming at expanding sales in the Southeast Asia market.

5G private networks dedicated will become a stepping stone for Taiwan-based electronics and ICT makers to obtain orders for devices in the Open RAN (radio access network) market.Open RAN uses open interface specifications, software-defined technologies and white-box hardware, countering dominance by major telecom equipment vendors, such as Ericsson and Nokia, in public networks.Because development of Open RAN hardware, software technologies and compatibility testing is at the initial stage, it is still difficult to fully replace conventional telecom equipment for the time being. Digitimes Research believes private networks are preferred to public ones and rural areas precede urban ones for setting up Open RANs, and Taikwan makers will find opportunities from 5G private networks.According to GAS, 259 enterprise-use private networks had been or were being established in 37 countries as of the end of November 2020.As private networks are characterized by highly customized specifications and market fragmentation, Taiwan-based makers have to overcome the challenge through seeking appropriate 5G software developers and telecom carriers as partners.

TSMC is expected to allocate a record capex budget for 2011 as it fast advances its manufacturing processes. The foundry house's equipment and material suppliers will as a result see strong sales for the year. Taiwan's FPCB makers have reported significant gains in December 2020 sales, reportedly driven by strong shipmnents supporting Apple's iPhone 12 series. In the iPhone ecosystem, the voice coli motor segment reportedly will see a new supplier in Largan Precision, who has been a major supplier of lens modules for Apple's smartphones.TSMC equipment and materials suppliers to embrace strong 2021: Semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers of TSMC are poised to embrace a strong first quarter of 2021, and they are also optimistic about their sales prospects this year, according to industry sources.Taiwan flexible PCB makers log big revenue gains in December: Taiwan's flexible PCB makers in the supply chain of Apple devices have posted hefty on-month revenue gains for December 2020 thanks to strong shipments supporting hot sales of iPhone 12 series and the vendor's launch of new devices in the fourth quarter, according to industry sources.Largan reportedly to begin supply of VCMs for new iPhone in 2H21: Smartphone-use lens module maker Largan Precision will become a supplier of VCMs (voice coil motors) for iPhones to be unveiled in 2021, with shipments to begin in second-half 2021, according to industry sources.