The impact of the shortages of Intel's 14nm CPUs seems to be rippling out from the PC to the sever sector. Sever ODMs now see tight supply for Intel 14nm CPUs with their stocks reportedly going under safe levels. Despite the pressure, the server ODMs' CPU stocks will still be enough to last through the fourth quarter of the year...

No one could do better than TSMC when it comes to predicting the possible size of next year's 5G smartphone market, as the top foundry house can rely on order visibility from chip clients to support its estimation. Now some industry sources have cited TSMC's internal estimates as expecting global 5G smartphone shipments to approach 300 million units next year...

Strong demand from the 5G sector is apparently not the only factor driving TSMC's sales growth. The foundry house is gaining growth momentum from better-than-expected sales of Apple's iPhone 11 series for fourth-quarter 2019, and first-quarter 2020. But the semiconductor industry is definitely relying on 5G applications to fuel its next wave of growth...

TSMC is expected to report record sales for 2019, driven by strong demand for its advanced manufacturing processes. Its 7nm production capacity has been fully occupied, thanks to robust orders from clients eyeing the strong growth of the 5G market. Less advanced processes, including the 16nm node, have also seen tight capacity, with delivery lead time extended...

The establishment of a charging station standard is necessary for a market to see broader adoption of electric cars, according to Jacques Borremans, head of Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN) Asia.

Notebook ODMs have again been hit by Intel CPU shortages. But Bob Swan, visiting Taiwan for the first time as Intel's CEO, said his company is expanding production capacity, particularly for 14nm processors. Swan noted that Taiwan has played a critical role in helping Intel go through 2019, a year considered a difficult one for semiconductors...

Texas Instruments is revamping the way of selling its products, relying less on distributors. TI earlier this month decided to terminate Avnet's rights to distributing its products starting 2021, and Taiwan-based WPG and WT Micro have just disclosed their distribution partnerships with the US client will also end at the same time...

Global tablet shipments are expected to slip dramatically on year in 2019 amid weakening demand for brand and education tablets. Sales of white-box models have been significantly undermined by brand-name devices, while demand for small-size white-box tablets will continue to slip in the next five years, according to Digitimes Research's 5-year forecast report on tablets.

Global shipments of small- to medium-size TFT LCD panels are expected to total 1.8 billion units in 2024, representing a CAGR of minus 4.4% from the levels seen in 2019, Digitimes Research estimates.

Preparations for the year-end shopping season and extra inventory build-ups at clients to avoid extra US tariffs are heaping strong pressure on notebook ODMs who are not receiving sufficient support from Intel. They thought the Intel processor shortfall had eased, only to find out that 14nm Intel CPUs are again falling short of demand...