Notebook demand has been so strong in the wake of coronavirus lockdowns that related IC suppliers have not been able to catch up due to insufficient foundry support. Delivery for a host of notebook-use ICs has extended by 2-3 months. Such robust demand has also shored up revenues for notebook ODMs. Inventec has reported its April revenues grew almost 26% on year. Meanwhile, TSMC has reported its April sales dropped over 15% sequentially but rose more than 28% on year. TSMC's revenues for the first four months of 2020 surged almost 39%. Lead time for notebook chips extended on tight foundry capacity: Delivery lead time for notebook-related chips including power management ICs, Type-C chips and other peripheral ICs have been extended by 2-3 months, due mainly to tight 8-inch foundry capacity, according to industry sources.Inventec enjoys double-digit revenue growth in April: Inventec has reported revenues for April 2020 climbed 17.6% sequentially and 25.7% on year to NT$49.29 billion (US$1.64 billion), as its shipments for notebooks and servers grew robustly.TSMC posts decreased April revenue: TSMC has reported April consolidated revenue fell 15.4% sequentially to NT$96 billion (US$3.21 billion).

Taiwan's shipments of small- to medium-size LCD panels will continue drifting downward in the second quarter of 2020 in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, with a-Si feature phone applications to be affected the most, according to Digitimes Research.Shipments of small- to medium-size panels by Taiwan's makers fell 28.4% sequentially and 8.8%% on year to 168 million unit in the first quarter 2020, as China-based handset makers were unable to fulfill their shipments due to the outbreak, cutting panel demand.As a result, Taiwan's shipments of handset applications decreased 34.4% sequentially in the first quarter, while those for other medium-size (including smart speakers) and tablet applications sank 14.1% and 14.6%, respectively.Although the outbreak has eased in China and its handset makers have resumed their operations mostly, shipments of handsets, particularly entry-level and mid-tier features phones, to India and other emerging markets remain difficult in the second quarter due to an escalation of the pandemic in these areas.With panel demand from Chinese handset makers likely to remain conservative, Taiwan's panel suppliers are expected to see their shipments of small- to medium-size panels drop another 4.4% on quarter and 10.4% on year in the second quarter, Digitimes Research estimates.Handset panels alone will sink 12.4% sequentially to below 100 million units in the second quarter, but those for tablet applications are likely to shoot up 36.8% amid rising tablet demand supporting remote study.

AI startup business Ubestream has launched AIchatin SaaS (software as a service) cloud computing platform for providing AI-based dialog robot services on a subscription basis.Using semantic deep learning and machine learning technologies available at Microsoft Azure, AIchatin is an engine that allows subscribers, via opening accounts at an AIaaS (AI as a service) provider, to introduce its AI-based automatic dialog functions to their websites, Facebook Messenger or Line to operate question & answer customer services, the startup firm said.This enables enterprises, retail operators, e-commerce operators, government organizations and schools to provide web-based voice inquiry services without establishing their own AI-based automatic dialog systems, Ubestream indicated.

Alibaba's subsidiary Pingtouge has devoted much effort developing AI and server chips. Pingtouge has been as keen to develop ties with TSMC, and has the potential to become one of the foundry house's major clients. Meanwhile, Alibaba and other China-based cloud service providers are ramping up demand for enterprise servers and SSDs, as the country lifts coronavirus lockdowns. While it remains uncertain whether Apple's 5G iPhone will come out later than usual, its FPCB suppliers have seen demand turn strong in the second quarter, thanks to the roll-out of the next-generation iPhone SE, new iPad and MacBook models.Alibaba chipmaking subsidiary to emerge as major client of TSMC: Pingtouge, Alibaba's semiconductor subsidiary, has stepped up its AI and server related chip development while extending its ties with TSMC and Global Unichip, and has the potential to become a major client of the foundry house, according to industry sources.China cloud service providers ramping up demand for memory: China-based cloud service providers have stepped up their purchases of server memory and SSDs since the second quarter of 2020, according to industry sources.Taiwan FPCB makers see demand turn strong for Apple devices in 2Q20: Taiwan's flexible PCB makers in the supply chain of Apple devices have seen demand turn strong in the second quarter of 2020 to support robust sales of second-generation iPhone SE, new iPad and MacBook models, according to industry sources.

Shipments of LCD TVs by Taiwan-based makers fell 45.2% sequentially to 4.65 million units in the first quarter of 2020, affected mainly by seasonality and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in China, according to Digitimes Research.Taiwan's TV shipments to the North American market were less affected by the pandemic and the off-peak season effects in the first quarter. The ratio of shipments to North America rose to 39.4% of overall Taiwan volumes in the quarter from 38.1% a quarter earlier, Digitimes Research figures show.The shipment proportion of TV models sized above 50 inches fell to 44.3% in the first quarter compared to over 50% in the previous quarter, while the ratio of models ranging from 32-39 inches increased significantly during the January-March period.Meanwhile, the proportion of 4K models also declined to 50.6% in the first quarter.TPV Technology was the top vendor among Taiwan-based TV makers in the first quarter, taking up a 43.7% market share, and it was followed by Foxconn Electronics, Amtran Technology and Innolux.Looking ahead, Taiwan's TV shipments are expected to experience an annual decline of 42.4% to 4.13 million units in the second quarter 2020 as the pandemic has spread into Europe and the US hurting global economic growth and undermining demand for TVs, Digitimes Research estimates.

Chassis maker, as an important supplier for Apple, is mulling plans to move production to Southeast Asia, with rumors claiming the maker is looking to sell its plants in China. This may be an inidcation that Apple's supply chain partners are getting serious about relocating their production lines out of China at the behest of the client. But the handset supply chain will remain heavily reliant on China. Chinese handset ODM Wingtech and components maker Luxshare have reported strong results for first-quarter 2020 despite sluggish demand in China's handset market in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic, however, has triggered huge demand for stay-at-home support that in turn driven up sales for DRAM maker Nanya and players in the healthcare MCU and server chip supply chains.Catcher reportedly mulling setting up factory site in Southeast Asia: Chassis maker Catcher Technology with manufacturing operations mainly in China reportedly is evaluating the feasibility of setting up a new plant in Southeast Asia to cope with Apple's demand of shifting the upstream supply chain capacity to outside of China, according to industry sources.Chinese handset ODMs enjoy ramp-up in lucrative orders: Chinese handset ODM Wingtech Technology and components maker Luxshare Precision Industry have posted significant on-year revenue and profit increases for the first quarter of 2020, despite sluggish domestic demand in China.Nanya revenue hits 18-month high: DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology saw its revenues climb to an 18-month high of NT$5.62 billion (US$188.2 million) in April 2020.OSAT firms see robust demand for healthcare MCUs, server chips: Strong demand for healthcare MCUs and commercial notebook chips driven by the coronavirus pandemic has significantly boosted capacity utilization at Taiwan's backend houses, with clear visibility of packaging orders from vendors of both logic ICs extending to July, according to industry sources

Shipments of smartphone-use application processors (AP) in the China market are expected to experience a steep drop of 37.8% on year in the second quarter of 2020, as China's handset makers are adjusting their inventory for APs due to weak consumer confidence in the local market and the impact on their shipments to India and other emerging markets in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, according to Digitimes Research.Smartphone AP shipments came to 135 million units in China in the first quarter 2020, decreasing over 30% from a quarter earlier and 12.2% from a year earlier, as Chinese handset brands, particularly Huawei, were adjusting downward their shipments due to the outbreak and weak consumer demand for 5G models lacking killer applications, Digitimes Research has found.Qualcomm was the top vendor with a 41.8% share in China's smartphone AP market in the first quarter, followed by MediaTek with 39.6% and HiSilicon Technologies with 15.2%.Looking ahead, HiSilicon will see its share edge up to 23.4% in the second quarter, bolstered by strong pull-ins from parent company Huawei. Meanwhile, Qualcomm and MediaTek are likely to see their shares drop to 37.4% and 36.2%, respectively, in the quarter, Digitimes Research estimates.Qualcomm and MediaTek are expected to experience double-digit sequential and annual declines in their AP shipments to China in the second quarter, as their major clients including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo all brace for slow sales in the domestic market due to aggressive campaigns from Huawei, while their shipments to India, Africa and other emerging markets will remain constrained due to the virus.Smartphone APs built with 7/8 nm process nodes accounted for 34.9% of China's total mobile AP shipments in the first quarter, surpassing those made with 12nm process to become mainstream technology.

NOR flash demand has been strong demand, helping suppliers buck the seasonal trend in the first quarter. Supplier expect NOR flash shortages in second-half 2020, thanks to strong demand from the 5G, IoT and automotive sectors. In another sector of the memory industry, China's Yangtze Memory is looking to start volume production for its 128-layer NAND flash chips later this year, securing a "meaningful" role in the market. In the foundry sector, TSMC reportedly has obtained major orders for Nvidia's next-generation GPUs.NOR flash supply likely to fall short of demand in 2H20: The global supply of NOR flash chips particularly high-density ones is likely to fall short of demand starting the second half of 2020, according to sources at memory chipmakers who already saw their NOR flash sales outperform seasonal patterns in the first quarter.Yangtze Memory to ramp 128-layer NAND flash output in 2020: China-based Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) will be striving to kick off volume production of 128-layer 3D NAND flash chips later this year, racing to catch up with its bigger rivals, according to industry observers.TSMC obtains major orders for Nvidia next-gen 7nm and 5nm GPU, sources claim: Speculation is circulating that Samsung Electronics' 5nm EUV process has attracted orders from Nvidia for its next-generation graphics processor series, but sources familiar with the matter believe TSMC will remain the major foundry partner of the chip vendor for its 5nm as well as 7nm GPU families.

Worldwide all-in-one (AIO) PC shipments are expected to rise over 30% sequentially in the second quarter, following a 29% sequential decline in the first quarter, according to Digitimes Research.With the coronavirus pandemic disrupting the production of AIO PCs, blocking logistics support and weakening demand from enterprises, global AIO PC shipments reached only 2.14 million units in the first quarter. The top-4 AIO PC brand vendors all had similar sequential shipment declines in the quarter, Digitimes Research figures show.The shipment growth in the second quarter is being driven by the facts that the supply chain has already restored its capacity and orders deferred from the first quarter are ready to be fulfilled.Lenovo saw its AIO PC shipments plunge 35% sequentially in the first quarter as its home market of China was the epicenter of the pandemic in the first quarter. Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Apple also suffered shipment drops of around 27-29% sequentially.Among the top-4 brands, Apple is expected to have the highest sequential growth in AIO PC shipments in the second quarter and the strong performance will help Apple leapfrog HP to become the second largest AIO PC brand worldwide.Benefiting from increases in orders from Apple and HP, Quanta Computer's share of worldwide AIO PC shipments is expected to climb 1.8pp sequentially to over 40%.

Taiwan's shipments of large-size panels in 9-inch and above sizes (excluding Sharp's) are expected to grow 12.9% sequentially in the second quarter 2020 thanks to capacity resumption at backend LCD module lines run by Taiwanese panel makers in China, orders deferred from the previous quarter and a surge in demand for remote work and learning applications, according to Digitimes Research.Taiwan's large-size panel shipments came to 47.69 million units in the first quarter of 2019, decreasing 19.3% sequentially and 12.3% on year, as related makers' LCM production in China were disrupted by coronavirus-induced shortages in labor, raw materials and packaging materials, as well as weakened demand, Digitimes Research figures show.Panel demand for notebook and over 9-inch tablet applications will be the main growth driver for large-size panel shipments in the second quarter, followed by those for monitor applications (including AIO PCs).As many production lines of TV brands or ODMs in Mexico, Brazil and other places have been fully or partly suspended in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Digitimes Research believes that panel demand from the LCD TV segment will lag behind those from the notebook, tablet and monitor sectors in the second quarter.From the supply side, China's BOE Technology, China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) and CED-Panda LCD Technology are expected to ramp up their shipments of IT panels to mitigate the impact resulted from reduced TV panel shipments.In Korea, LG Display will also enhance its presence in the IT panel sector as it is reducing its output of TV panels. Samsung Display is also expected to slow down the pace of its exit from the LCD panel market in order to cope with a surge in demand for IT applications.