The coronavirus pandemic is hitting the hard the smartphone market, with components suppliers disclosing that orders from Huawei and Samsing for their high-end 5G devices have been weak. But chip vendors believe that demand for 5G smartphone solutions is recovering in China, and they are stepping up production for sub-6GHz offerings that will be the mainstream in 2020. For Apple, which may launch its 5G iPhone later than expected due to the impacts of the virus, its partners, TSMC and ASE Technology, reportedly are still ready for backend mass production as originally scheduled for the 5G iPhone's mmWave AiP modules.Sales of Huawei, Samsung high-end smartphones stalled by pandemic: Shipments of 5G-enabled smartphone models from Huawei and Samsung Electronics reportedly have met with headwinds, with supply chain sources indicating that component orders for these high-end models have lost momentum in the wake of the coronaviurs pandemic.5G smartphone chip demand recovering in China: With the coronavirus outbreak put under control in China, China's domestic 5G smartphone market has started recovering with chipmakers stepping up production for sub-6GHz solutions, according to industry sources.5G iPhone mmWave AiP production schedule hinges on Apple strategy: Apple's assembly partners reportedly may defer volume production of 5G iPhones by at least one month amid high uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, but its mmWave AiP modules backend partners including TSMC and ASE Technology are still ready for mass production as originally scheduled, according to industry sources.

Demand for server applications has been strong, fueled by stay-at-home economy amid lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But the lockdowns may disrupt suppliers' production in Southeast Asia, creating shortages for server components. For memory suppliers, they are prioritizing shipments to the datacenter sector to support expanding stay-at-home economy, which is also propelling demand for server memory backend services that PTI offers. Notebook ODMs also saw staggering on-month sales growth in March, driven by users' needs to work and study from home.Concerns about server component shortages emerge: With a number of Southeast Asian countries imposing various levels of coronavirus lockdowns, concerns have been rising about component shortages that may hit the server industry supply chain, according to industry sources.Memory vendors give priority to orders for data centers: Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology now give priority to shipping memory chips and devices for data centers and other server applications, as demand for smartphones is slowing down, according to industry sources.PTI 1Q20 revenues spike 30% on robust server memory demand: Memory backend specialist Powertech Technology (PTI) saw first-quarter 2020 consolidated revenues surge 30.35% on year to hit the firm's second-highest quarterly level at NT$18.81 billion (US$625.6 million), buoyed by strong demand for datacenter storage and other server applications, according to company sources.Compal, Inventec, Acer see staggering on-month revenue growths in March: Taiwan-based notebook ODMs enjoyed increased revenues in March thanks to rising orders from clients, while brand vendor Acer also achieved strong revenue growth in the month.

Apart from its leadership in the foundry sector, TSMC has been making a lot of efforts developing packaging technologies with which it can offer value-added services to customers. It has recently seen an "unexpected" rise in orders demanding its CoWoS packaging services for chips that support stay-at-home needs triggered by widespread lockdowns in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdowns have also propelled demand for notebooks that users need for working and learning from home. ODMs expect significant notebook shipment growth in second-quarter 2020. The pandemic has also sent demand soaring for healthcare and disinfection applications and devices. Many LED makers are now running at full capacity to meet strong demand for UV-C products.TSMC sees CoWoS packaging capacity utilization ramp up: TSMC has seen utilization of its chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging capacity rise substantially in the second quarter of 2020, and now runs the packaging production lines at full utilization, according to industry sources.ODMs to see notebook shipments grow in 2Q20, but desktops may drop: With rapidly rising demand for notebooks, Taiwan-based ODMs have primarily focused their capacities on producing notebooks and are expected to enjoy double-digit sequential growths in second-quarter notebook shipments, but shipments of desktops and all-in-one (AIO) PCs may slip sequentially.UV-C LED devices in tight supply: Demand for UV-C LED products for disinfection applications has drastically increased in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, stretching the production lead times at makers of such devices, according to industry sources.

Denmark-based startup BluSense Diagnostics, with major investments from Taiwanese companies, has developed a diagnostic kit that can test COVID-19 in 12 minutes, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).BluSense's kit offers high accuracy, portability and easy operation: Only one drop of blood sample is required from the test subject, and no pretreatment such as centrifugation is required, MOST said, adding that test results can be obtained within 12 minutes.BluSense completed the development of COVID-19 serology test cartridge (ViroTrack COVID-19 IgM / IgG) in March 2020 with the support from Taiwan-based Ten-Chen Medical Group (TCMG) to optimize the detection system, according to MOST. Last week, BluSense had a preliminary clinical verification performed at Hvidovre Hospital in Denmark, with a sensitivity of up to 90%.BluSense, established in 2014, focuses on the detection of infectious diseases. Its Dengue Acute System has obtained the EU CE.The startup has received support from MOST's Germination Program, which helps academics turn their innovations into products in the market.Taiwan-based companies, TaiAn Technologies and Quanta Storage, are main shareholders of BluSense. BluSense's biotech R&D base is located in Copenhagen, Denmark, while the hardware and software center and equipment production are located in Taoyuan, Taiwan.BluSense's BluBox portable medical detection platform is based on a Blu-ray Disc drive, with micro-channel biological detection disc ViroTrack, which is convenient to carry and operate at airports, ports and in other frontline epidemic prevention situations, MOST said.

Sharp has not supplied LCD TV panels to Samsung since 2017 following Foxconn's takeover of the Japanese firm. But that is expected to change soon, as Samsung's in-house LCD panel lines are shutting down, and need to source more LCD TV applications from outside suppliers, including Sharp. Meanwhile, the Korean tech giant is vying for 5G mobile chip orders from Huawei, who is keen to cut its reliance on US supplies. Samsung and MediaTek - its major competitor from Taiwan - are both eyeing the Chinese vendor's entry-level and midrange phone segments. The handset market has been sluggish in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, but the notebook market has seen robust demand for enteprise and educational devices supporting stay-at-home needs. Notebook components suppliers have reported strong sales for March.Samsung reportedly to resume purchasing LCD TV panels from Sharp: Samsung Electronics reportedly will resume the purchases of LCD TV panels from Sharp as its panel production arm Samsung Display is accelerating its move to close all of its LCD lines by the end of 2020, according to sources from Taiwan's panel supply chain.MediaTek, Samsung eyeing 5G mobile chip orders from Huawei: MediaTek and Samsung Electronics are both vying for mid-range and entry-level 5G smartphone chips from Huawei, which intends to further reduce its dependence on Qualcomm this year, according to industry sources.Notebook component suppliers report brisk March results: Notebook component suppliers including battery pack maker Simplo Technology and cooling module firm Taisol Electronics have reported impressive revenue results for March 2020, thanks to a pick-up in demand for commercial and educational notebooks.

Concerns about the NAND flash market outlook in second-half 2020 have been triggered by Samsung's reported move of striving to cut its SSD inventory, with the Korean vendor even mulling sending them in the spot market. Meanwhile, Nintendo's Switch game consoles are selling like hot cakes, thanks to increasing stay-at-home activities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Japanese vendors have increased orders with the manufacturers of the Switch consoles. Stay-at-home economy is also fueling demand for passive components used in servers and business-use notebooks. MLCC and resistor makers are seeing rush orders from such vendors.Samsung cutting SSD inventory: Samsung Electronics is striving to lower its SSD inventory levels, a move which has raised concerns about the NAND flash market outlook for the second half of 2020, according to industry sources.Nintendo ramping up orders for Switch: Nintendo is ramping up orders for its Switch devices as demand for the gaming consoles have been rising amid increasing stay-at-home activities in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, according to industry sources.Taiwan MLCC, resistor makers see mostly orders with short lead time: Taiwan-based passive component makers have landed mostly short lead time orders recently from clients seeking to replenish their inventory, with order visibility clear just one month ahead, according to industry sources.

Undeterred by the coronavirus impacts and the cancellation of MWC 2020, China-based smartphone vendors were keen to launch their flagship 5G-enabled models online in the first quarter of 2020 in order to make preemptive presence in the segment, according to Digitimes Research.In spite of their high specs, including Qualcomm's latest mobile CPUs, high resolution displays with a refresh rate of over 90Hz and a touch sampling rate of over 120Hz, LPDDR 5 memory and UFS 3.0 flash, those 5G phones are mostly priced between CNY3,500 (US$494) and CNY4,500, as vendors are aiming at ramping up market share initially, Digitimes Research has found.China's handset players are expected to roll out diverse 5G models for the mid-range segment in the second quarter as mobile chip vendors have released more mid-tier 5G solutions for handset makers to choose from, helping them reduce overall production cost.Digitimes Research believes that there is the possibility of seeing China's handset makers launch 5G models priced below CNY2,000 in the third quarter of 2020.

International Digital Entertainment Creative Association (IDEA) aims to be a catalyst to integrate segments of Taiwan's digital entertainment industry to create synergy and boost its internationalization, according to IDEA chairman Ken Chen.The industry consists of segments of videos/movies, animations, cartoons, online and arcade games, music and literature, and each segment is more or less interrelated to another or more, Chen said. Computers, as a strong tool, have linked these segments into a digital content supply chain with large business opportunities.Chen in 1998 established Gemhorn, a Taiwan sales agent for 3D and animation software such as Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya as well as plug-in VFX (visual effect) and after-effect software. From his business operation experience for many years, Chen has found there are internationally competitive local experts in each segment but there is lack of cooperation or exchanges for horizontal linkage among segments.Chen in 2017 set up IDEA for combining various local expertise in creation of digital entertainment content and providing an international platform for locally created content to go internationally.In the international market, movies, animations and games have been linked into a particular digital entertainment industry due to IP (intellectual property) licensing and high compatibility, Chen noted. The Taiwan government, in its efforts to promote creation of digital entertainment content, has to understand the situation to make really effective policies and design efficient subsidization programs, Chen indicated. IDEA not only helps local content creators but also will play a bridge between the industry and the government, Chen noted.Viewing that quite many locally created animations are of good quality but there are no platforms to advertise and market them, Chen and Chang Yen-jung, an assistant professor with National Taiwan Normal University's Department of Graphic Arts and Communications, established aniFlix Online, an open platform for animation creators to launch their works and set prices themselves to support local creativity for animation.Launched in December 2018, aniFlix Online has an English version to promote Taiwan-produced animations in the international market, Chen indicated, adding in the future, the English version will facilitate launches of animations from abroad to boost international exchanges.IDEA chairman Ken ChenPhoto: Vincent Mao, Digitimes, April 2020

Samsung and TSMC have been engaged in a fierce race in advancing manufacturing processes, with the Korean foundry aiming to beat its Taiwanese rival to 3nm production. But Samsung may have difficulties moving its 3nm node to volume production in 2021, as the coronavirus pandemic is delaying equipment installation. In China, the outbreak may have eased, but consumer confidence has yet to recover, sending consumer NAND flash prices falling.Samsung unlikely to move 3nm to volume production until 2022: Samsung Foundry, the foundry operations of Samsung Electronics, has set its goal of moving its advanced 3nm process technology to volume production as early as 2021. But the Korean firm will probably have to reschedule it to 2022, as the coronavirus pandemic's impacts on logistics and transportation services are causing delays to deliveries of EUV and other critical production equipment, according to industry sources.Consumer NAND flash prices falling in China retail market: NAND flash device prices in China's retail market have started showing weakness, as the coronavirus pandemic is weighing on consumer sentiment and dragging down demand, according to industry sources.

TSMC may not have been entirely unscathed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted production and chilled end-market demand, but the outlook of for the foundry's advanced manufacturing processes remains robust, with its 5nm node on track to start volume production in second-quarter 2020. The server sector has also seen robust orders thanks to the pandemic that is fueling demand for support for stay-at-home needs. Server assemblers say they will have significant shipments in second-quarter 2020. But the handset supply chain is having a much harder time. Production capacity in China may have been resumed, but Chinese handset vendors have seen a quick chill in demand from overseas markets.TSMC on track to ramp 5nm chip production: TSMC is on track to move 5nm process technology to volume production in second-quarter 2020 as scheduled, and continues to see the process capacity fully booked despite recent speculation claiming that the foundry has been requested by Apple to defer production of its next-generation A-series chips, according to industry sources.Server assemblers continue enjoying strong orders though IC designers see slowdown: Though IC design houses have recently seen demand from US-based datacenter clients slow down, server makers continue to enjoy strong orders from such clients, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.Pandemic hurting handset supply and demand: The fast spreading coronavirus pandemic is hurting both supply and demand of the global handset industry. China's supply chain makers face the harsh reality of having fewer or even no orders while still trying hard to resume their production capacities undercut by the pandemic.