Global server shipments in the first quarter of 2020 recorded a sequential decline of 16.9%, steeper than the 9.8% fall that Digitimes Research had estimated in February, as a result of disruptions to the supply chain amid coronavirus-induced lockdowns in many parts of the world.The shipments of the first quarter reached 3.65 million units, according to Digitimes Research's latest server quarterly report.Server shipments are expected to see a 15.8% rebound in the second quarter as orders for servers continue picking up thanks to deferred orders from the first quarter and rising demand for cloud computing services partly driven by remote work and learning needs, Digitimes Research's figures show.The spread of the coronavirus into North America and Europe has destablized local supply of servers, but demand for cloud computing services has been rising. As server supply is expected to gradually return to normal throughout the second quarter, global server shipments are expected to growth both quarterly and yearly in the quarter.

Notebook demand from the government and enterprise sectors has been strong, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, which is nevertheless hindering ocmponents productio in Southeast Asia. As a result, supply of notebooks may become short of demand in May, according to Digitimes Research. The pandemic has also sent millions working and studying at home, shoring up demand for datacenter support. Server order visibility has now extended to second-half 2020.Notebooks in shortages due to Southeast Asia lockdowns, says Digitimes Research: Notebook supply is expected to fall short of demand in May as components production in the Southeast Asia is being hindered by local contigencies against the coronavirus pandemic, according to Digitimes Research.Server order visibility clear in 2H20 on demand from FB, Microsoft: As major cloud services providers including Microsoft and Facebook are keenly expanding construction of datacenters to better serve global users, the server industry has got a significant boost in order visibility for the second half of 2020, but shipments can hardly meet demand from clients due to production and logistics problems, according to industry sources.

Construction of 5G infrastructure in China has not lost much steam despite the coronavirus pandemic. The country's telecom carriers have recently stepped up their 5G equipment procurment, with Huawei and ZTE emerging as big winners of their projects. But it remains to be seen how strong the 5G market segment in China will be this year. Overall smartphone shipments by Chinese vendors - to both the domestic and overseas markets - dropped sharply in first-quarter 2020, with their second-quarter shipments likely to fall further, according to Digitimes Research. In the semiconductor sector, Samsung is bent on challenging TSMC in a race to advance manufacturing processes. Samsung is expected to spend big this year on EUV fab tools.Huawei, ZTE step up pull-ins for 5G base station equipment: China-based telecom equipment providers, mainly Huawei and ZTE, have stepped up their pace of components orders for 5G infrastructure after winning bids for construction of 5G base stations from the country's three telecom operators recently, according to sources from related supply chain makers.Smartphone shipments by Chinese vendors fall in 1Q20, says Digitimes Research: Shipments of smartphones by China's handset makers totaled 108 million units in the first quarter of 2020, declining 26.2% from a year earlier, Digitimes Research has found.Samsung to spend big on EUV fab tools in 2020: Samsung Electronics is gearing up for mass production of 5nm chips later this year to further enhance its FinFET process offerings that leverage extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology.

Global tablet shipments are forecast to climb 45.5% sequentially and 9.9% on year in the second quarter of 2020 thanks to a recovery in the related supply chain's capacity in China and educational tablet orders deferred from the first quarter, according to Digitimes Research's latest tablet shipment figures.Shipments in the fist quarter slipped 33.6% on year to reach around 24.7 million units due to the coronavirus outbreak, which crippled the supply chain's upstream production in China. First-tier brands' tablet shipments had a below-average decline of 29.1% on year in the first quarter, while those of white-box models had a bigger drop at 38.2%, Digitimes Research's figures show.Apple remained the largest tablet brand worldwide in the first quarter, followed by Samsung Electronics in second and Huawei in third. Lenovo became the fourth largest brand with increased procurement orders from the education sector and Microsoft was in fifth place. Amazon fell out of the top-5 in the first quarter, but will return to the fourth position in the second quarter with increased orders and will relegate Lenovo and Microsoft to fifth and sixth respectively.Over 75% of global tablet shipments in the first quarter were models with over 10-inch displays, but the shipment share of 7.x-inch tablets is expected to pick up slightly from a quarter ago in the second quarter due to growing shipments of the iPad mini and Amazon's Fire 7.Apple's tablets had a sequential shipment decline slower than those of othe first-tier brands in the first quarter of 2020, which relatively increased the shipment share of tablets using the GF2 touchscreen technology. Among non-Apple tablets, in-cell technology has grown popular with a share of over 20% in the first half of 2020. The share of tablets using the GFF technology has continued to slip.With Apple to significantly increase its tablet orders for the second quarter, the shipment share of GF2-featured tablets is expected to rise further, while Taiwan-based ODMs, which are key manufacturers of iPads, will see their combined shipments grow 60% sequentially in the quarter and command over 50% of worldwide volumes.

Demand has been for notebooks supporting remote work, distant learning and other staty-at-home activities necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic. Digitimes Research estimates that global notebook shipments will spike by more than 40% in second-quarter 2020. The handset market may have been hit hard by the virus, but it has not dampened MediaTek's optimisim for 5G phones. The chip vendor has reiterated its forecast that global 5G smartphone shipments will still 170-200 million units in 2020. But it remains to be seen when Apple will launch its 5G iPhone, development of which reportedly has been hindered by virus-imposed bans on its engineers from traveling to China to conduct engineering verification tests for the new device. Tech companies are said to be mulling changes to their deployments by turning Taiwan into their test production hubs.Global notebook shipments to climb over 40% in 2Q20, estimates Digitimes Research: Global notebook shipments are forecast to surge more than 40% sequentially in the second quarter of 2020, thanks to demand arising from remote work, online learning, and other stay-at-home activities amid the coronavirus pandemic as well as deferred orders from the first quarter, according to Digitimes Research's latest notebook shipment figures.MediaTek remains upbeat about 5G phone shipments in 2020: MediaTek is still upbeat about 5G in 2020 and its forecast for global 5G smartphone shipments to reach 170-200 million units in the year remains unchanged, according to company CEO Rick Tsai.US tech giants seeking to expand test production in Taiwan: US tech giants including Apple, Facebook and Google reportedly are mulling expanding test production of new products in Taiwan, whose advantages in the IT manufacturing sector have been highlighted by US-China trade war and the coronavirus outbreak, according to industry sources.

Demand for notebooks has been fueled by stay-at-home needs during the coronavirus pandemic. Digitimes Research expects panel makers to see sharp increases in shipments for notebook applications in the second quarter 2020, which is likely the peak period of 2020 for notebook panels. But the desktop PC market has been far weaker. The PC DIY market is likely to decline 30% in 2020. For the smartphone market, fingerprint recognition solution supplier Egistec is expanding its presence in China, and has entered the supply chain of Huawei's 5G handsets.Notebook panel shipments to peak in 2Q20: Global shipments of notebook panels are expected to surge 26% sequentially in the second quarter of 2020, driven by demand from the world's top-three notebook brands, Digitimes Research has estimated.DIY PC market likely to shrink 30% in 2020: DIY desktop PC sales have been sluggish so far this year, unlike the notebook market bolstered by the rise of stay-at-home economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the DIY market may shrink by 30% in 2020 if the pandemic lingers, according to sources from motherboard and grahics card makers.EgisTec enters supply chain of Huawei 5G phones: Egis Technology (EgisTec) has made inroads into China's fingerprint sensor market, with its products now finding their way into the supply chain of Huawei's 5G smartphones, according to industry sources.

The global smartphone market stands little chance of seeong a recovery in the second quarter of 2020 as the impacts of the coronavirus persist. Even Apple reportedly has cut its iPhone 11 orders for the second and third quarters of the year, with global smartphone shipments likely to drop 15% in 2020. In the IT market, Western Digitial is raising prices for its enterprise HDDs amid tight supply, as a result of strong demand and extended lead time at its pandemic-impacted production lines. Global smartphone shipments to dip to 1.15 billion units in 2020: Global smartphone shipments are expected to contract by 15% on year to 1.15 billion units in 2020, as major brands including Samsung Electronics, Huawei and Apple all have slashed their shipment targets for the year in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest estimate of Digitimes Research.Western Digital raising enterprise HDD prices: Western Digital reportedly is raising its prices for enterprise-use HDDs to reflect increased costs from production and logistics with mainstream products expected to see more than 10% increases, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Startup Kapito has developed an AI-based solution for detecting defective products at production lines, according to company co-founder and CEO Riccardo Sun.The solution - fastable.ai - combines image collecting equipment with image recognition engine based on machine vision, deep learning and algorithms for automatic detection of defects in products, Sun explained.Before developing fastable.ai, Kapito had visited 40-50 semiconductor and electronics manufacturers in Hsinch, northern Taiwan, to observe their production lines, and found that quality inspection relied much on labor, reducing efficiency in operation of production lines, Sun said.Manual quality inspection or conventional AOI (automatic optical inspection) merely divides products into normal ones and defective ones, rendering it easy to scrap products with relatively slight or small defects, Sun indicated. Fastable.ai is equipped with a function of grading defects, such as grades A, B, C, based on data concerning defects, Sun noted. As clients may have varying standards for required quality, grading of defects enables manufacturers not to scrap products with relatively slight or small defects instead of wasting them, Sun explained.To enhance applicability of fastable.ai, Kapito has provided open API to allow users to connect defect detection data with their internal databases or MES (manufacturing execution system) for more value-added application, Sun said.Kapito co-founder and CEO Riccardo SunPhoto: Chleo Liao, Digitimes, April 2020

Server demand has been strong, but ODMs have seen disruptions to shipments to clients due to components shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic. Curently cables are in serious short supply. In the handset sector, demand remains weak, and 5G smartphone AP vendors are banking on 5G smartphones inject momentum into their businesses. But major mobile AP suppliers, MediaTek and Qualcomm, are lowering prices in their race to win orders from handset vendors. In the foundry sector, TSMC, keen to extend its techological leadership, has already began R&D for its 2nm manufacturing node. Component shortages disrupting server shipments: Shortages of components caused by the coronavirus pandemic have begun to undermine server makers' shipments to their clients, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.Qualcomm-MediaTek 5G SoC price competition heating up: 5G AP price competition between Qualcomm and MediaTek is expected to heat up further in the second quarter of 2020 as both chipmakers are gearing up to win more orders from Chinese handset vendors in the upcoming 5G handset replacement boom in China.TSMC launches 2nm process R&D: TSMC has kicked off its 2nm process R&D, and is progressing in research and exploratory studies for nodes beyond 2nm, the foundry has diclosed in its annual report to shareholders.

Memory vendors may have seen robust demand from the server sector, but shipments to consumer electronics have slumped. Now memory spot market prices are under downward pressure, as transactions remain slow amid buyers' wait-and-see attitude towards the developments of the coronavirus pandemic. While memory buyers are cautious, chip vendors at the top of the semiconductor sector are still keen on R&D for their advanced offerings and on securing the most advanced manufacturing capacity support from TSMC, keeping the world's top foundry house in good health. In the smartphone space, Samsung remains a trendsetter. It is reportedly developing its next-generation foldable Galaxy Fold with ultrathin cover glass, instead of polyimide.Memory prices come under downward pressure: DRAM and NAND flash prices are facing increasing downward pressure, due to a slump in demand for consumer electronics devices, according to industry sources.TSMC enjoys ramp-up in orders from AMD, Nvidia: A ramp-up in short lead-time orders placed by AMD and Nvidia will allow TSMC to post relatively strong results compared to other foundries in the first half of 2020, according to industry sources.Samsung likely to use UTG as cover glass for next-gen Galaxy Fold: Samsung Electronics is expected to give the priority to the use of ultrathin glass (UTG) over polyimide (PI) films as cover glass solutions for its upcoming second-generation Galaxy Fold, according to industry sources.