The current short supply of semiconductor fab capacity is not normal, as the overall capacity should be more than enough to satisfy all demand in normal times, according TSMC chairman Mark Liu, who describes as "economically unrealistic" attempts by the US and Europe to expand their own fab capacity to satisfy all of their needs. But the short supply has been sending foundry quotes rising, with UMC and PSMC set to adjust upward their quotes by 10-20% starting April for rush orders. The eletric vehicle (EV) industry has seen fast development with rosy long-term outlook, thanks to government policy support, according to industry experts speaking at a forum on future cars held in Taipei.US, Europe "unrealistic" in fab expansion drive, says TSMC chair: It would be "economically unrealistic" for the US and Europe to expand semiconductor fab capacity to satisfy their own needs, according to TSMC chairman Mark Liu.UMC, PSMC to raise foundry quotes by another 10-20%: Pure-play foundries United Microelectronics (UMC) and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC) will initiate further price hikes of about 10-20% with the new pricing to be effective starting April, according to industry sources.EV industry bracing for long-term growth: Despite the pandemic-induced impacts, global electric vehicle (EV) shipments reached as high as 2.5 million units in 2020 - an achievement that has encouraged governments in advanced economies to accelerate policy formation that will be favorable to the advancement of the EV industry, according to industry experts.

Smartphones released by first-tier brands in India in 2020 were mostly models priced below INR15,000 (US$205), showing the purchasing power of Indian consumers is still rather weak, according to Digitimes Research's latest study on India's smartphone market.In India's entry-level handset market segment, Oppo's sub-brand Realme and Transsion's local brand had stronger on-year sales growths than most other vendors in 2020, enabled by their strategies of flooding the market with multiple different-spec models.In the high-end market segment, Apple had the best shipment performance in 2020.Despite the coronavirus pandemic and the Indian government raising goods and service tax (GST), India's smartphone sales only went down slightly from a year ago in 2020, Digitimes Research's data shows.Smartphones with 5G support also entered the India market and are gradually becoming more price-friendly. The release of OnePlus' Nord series 5G devices in the third quarter triggered a price decline in the entry-level segment.But 4G will remain the mainstream telecom technology in India for the upcoming few years, as 5G commercialization and infrastructure construction are still progressing slowly.

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is speeding up. As thinking shifts from fossil fuels to all-electric, visions of a brighter, more optimistic world come into view. But even here, there are challenges ahead, especially when it comes to fuse protection of the battery.An electric vehicle charging station, also called EV charging point, is a specialist piece of equipment that supplies electric energy for the recharging of electric vehicles, such as 100% battery electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrids.As plug-in hybrid, electric vehicles and battery electric vehicle ownership is expanding, there is a growing need for widely distributed publicly accessible charging stations, some of which support faster charging at higher voltages and currents than are available from residential EV charging points. Many charging stations are on-street facilities provided by electric utility companies or located at retail shopping centers and operated by many private companies. These charging stations provide one or a range of heavy duty or special connectors that conform to the variety of electric charging connector standards.Current electric vehicles increasingly require stronger fuses, for example in the form of a fusible link, as the power density of the batteries increases. Therefore, additional, more powerful fuses must protect the circuits from over-current and short circuit. These not only have to reliably protect the system against high currents, they also have to function safely at ever higher system voltages. Failure of the protective devices can result in injuries to the operator and serious damage to the system.Fuses for electric vehicles consist of a fusible link that connects two electrical contacts and is surrounded by an insulating housing. In use, the electrical contacts are galvanically separated, so that the melting of the fusible link interrupts the circuit. The choice of material and geometry of the fusible link are decisive for the tripping characteristics of the respective fuse. Fusible conductors are usually made of fine silver or a copper-silver alloy.Such a fuse element is heated by the current flowing through it. If the rated current of the fuse is significantly exceeded for a certain period of time, the fuse element will melt. After the fusible conductor metal has melted, a plasma is created in the gaseous state of the fusible conductor and an arc is formed, the intensity of which depends largely on the current strength and voltage of the current to be switched off. In the event of a short circuit, this current can be several orders of magnitude higher than the rated current of the fuse.To extinguish the arc, the fusible conductor is surrounded by compacted, high-purity quartz sand, which melts in the area of influence of the arc and combines with the fusible metal to form a non-conductive sintered body. After the arc has been extinguished, the circuit to be protected is disconnected. The sand filling also suppresses the gas pressure of the explosively vaporizing fuse element. The purity, grain size and packing density of the quartz sand used are decisive for arc extinguishing. Minor inorganic contamination can lead to vitrification of the sand. This is absolutely undesirable because glass is electrically conductive when molten.In the event of a short circuit, the fuse must safely switch off the expected maximum current. The external shape of the fuse must remain intact. The tripping time of a fuse depends on the characteristics, as well as on the current as a factor of the rated current. The rated current of a fuse is not a hard limit at which a fuse trips if it is only slightly exceeded.High-voltage overcurrent fuses for electric car are relatively new products. They combine the properties of low-voltage fuses and automotive fuses. Manufacturers must take into account the special environmental condition for mobile use in vehicles when constructing and designing components.Mechanical loads from shocks and vibrations must not affect the functional reliability and service life, just like electrical load changes or extreme ambient temperatures and high humidity. This is why they differ significantly in terms of structure and material selection from those fuses that are only intended for stationary use.With the increased power density of electrical storage devices for electric vehicles, the requirements for electrical protective components are also changing. Increasingly stronger fuses are therefore required both for the charging infrastructure and for use in the on-board systems.For electric vehicle companies that require absolute protection for sensitive internal components and a quality guarantee, look no further. Certified under one of the automotive industry's most widely used-standard for quality management - IATF 16949 - Conquer fuses are sure to deliver outstanding quality and safety. As the automotive industry delivers increasingly richer and fuller in-car entertainment experiences, Conquer is keeping pace to ensure electric vehicles with higher electricity loads can continue to deliver outstanding product safety. Supported by state-of-the-art, fully automated production facilities, Conquer enable leaders across the industry to safely keep up with the latest trends.Conquer power fuse K8F series, with voltage rating up to 800V, offer optimal protection against overload and short-circuit events in high power AC/DC circuits.Conquer - The best choice for automotive circuit protectionConquer power fuse K8F series, with voltage rating up to 800V, offer optimal protection against overload and short-circuit events in high power AC/DC

TSMC is fast advancing its manufacturing processes. The foundry house's N4 - an extension of its 5nm process family - will be available for volume production in fourth-quarter 2021 ahead of its original scheduled. Supply constraints have been haunting many industry sectors for months, and Macronix expects NOR flash supply to stay tight for the next two years. In the display sector, Corning has announced price hikes for its glass substrates starting second-quarter 2021 to reflect increasing production costs and expenses.TSMC to volume produce 4nm chips ahead of schedule: TSMC will move N4 (namely 4nm process) to volume production in the fourth quarter of 2021, ahead of the 2022 timeframe set previously, according to sources at fab toolmakers.NOR flash supply to stay tight in next 2 years, says Macronix chair: The ongoing tight supply of NOR flash chips will likely persist over the next two years, according to Miin Wu, chairman for Macronix International.Corning to hike glass substrate prices in 2Q21: Corning has disclosed plans to hike its display glass substrate prices in the second quarter of 2021 to reflect increased costs in logistics, energy, raw materials and other operational expenses during the current glass shortage.

As supply of LCD panels remains tight, demand is expected to stay robust in the second quarter of 2021 with their prices also expected to remain in growth track. The tight supply of analog chips, in addition to their rising quotes, also further extended the lead times needed for the delivery. MOSFETS and protective devices are also experiencing brisk orders from automotive, transmission and fast charging applications.LCD panel prices to continue rising in 2Q21: LCD panel prices will continue moving upward in second-quarter 2021 after making significant gains in the first quarter, as the supply remains constrained due to shortages of crucial upstream parts and materials, including glass substrates and LCD driver ICs, according to industry sources.Lead times for analog chips prolonged: Delivery lead times for analog chips including MCU and power MOSFET chips have been further extended, which will continue to boost the chip prices in the second quarter of 2021, according to industry sources in Taiwan.MOSFETs, protective devices badly needed for car, consumer applications: Demand for discrete power components such as MOSFET and rectifier diodes as well as TVS (transient voltage surge suppressor) and ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection devices is ramping up significantly for automotive, transmission and consumer fast charging applications, according to industry sources.

Apply's supply chain has started production for next-generation AirPods. Backend service supplier ASE Technology is packaging and testing optical sensors for new AirPods expected to launch in third-quarter 2021. Amid serious shortages of chipmaking capacity, pure-play foundry house PSMC has broken ground for a new 12-inch fab in northern Taiwan. Semiconductor costs are rising, and makers must be eager to find out whether they are having the best prices. Digitimes recently talked to Lytica chairman Ken Bradley to find out how his Canada-based company's SaaS service helps clients make better deals when buying or selling components.ASE starts optical sensors production for next-generation AirPods: Backend house ASE Technology has kicked off optical sensors production for the next-generation AirPods slated for launch in the third quarter of 2021, according to industry sources.PSMC breaks ground for new 12-inch wafer fab in northern Taiwan: Pure-play foundry Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing (PSMC) broke ground for a new 12-inch wafer fab at the Tongluo campus of the Hsinchu Science Park (HSP) on March 25.SaaS for component pricing: Q&A with Lytica chairman Ken Bradley: How much should one pay for a chip or a component? Lytica, a Canadian supply-chain pricing analytics company, has the answer. Founded by former Nortel chief procurement officer Ken Bradley, who, like many others in the IT industry, was once bemused by component pricing, Lytica is transforming itself into a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, helping OEM and EMS make well-informed deals when buying or selling.

How much should one pay for a chip or a component? Lytica, a Canadian supply-chain pricing analytics company, has the answer. Founded by former Nortel chief procurement officer Ken Bradley, who, like many others in the IT industry, was once bemused by component pricing, Lytica is transforming itself into a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, helping OEM and EMS make well-informed deals when buying or selling.Digitimes recently had a talk with Bradley about the value that business intelligence, such as pricing information and well-thought-out planning, can bring to a company.Q: I guess many OEMs have used Lytica's services when deciding what components to use. What inspired you to create this company that offers such a unique service?A: I spent many years at Nortel Networks, managed to negotiate for some joint ventures for Nortel in Guangdong province in China and in Shanghai, and founded Lytica after I retired from Nortel. My background was semiconductor physics and developing components. After I helped Nortel set up some joint ventures in China, they made me chief procurement officer. I was brand-new in purchasing, leading 1,600 people around the world, doing buying, sourcing, negotiating, and component engineering. What I discovered was that nobody knew how much I should be paying for a component.At the time Nortel was growing really quickly. I think we had the largest market capitalization in the world at that time. My suppliers and my staff told me I had the best pricing in the world. I sent a circuit card, with all the components on it, to suppliers, or EMS, like Flextronics or Sanmina, and I would get back a card with prices for its materials and components. Many of those prices were cheaper than I was paying! So I asked my staff: "Yesterday you told me I had the best pricing in the world! How did this happen?" They would not know. It turns out no body knows. Pricing is a private and secret kind of thing. It is not necessarily confidential, but nobody would share their pricing because they think it is their strategic advantage. This really bothered me. I even went to good consulting firms. But after charging me like US$100,000, they would tell me, "Ken you got really good prices." They didn't know, either.When I retired, I formed Lytica in 2005 as a consulting company. Because we are not suppliers, I got to see what people paid for components. I thought: Wouldn't that be great if we can set up a new product line in Lytica? We can gather all the prices from companies that we dealt with. They would share their pricing, and Lytica could statistically analyze where each price fits in the ranking of each component.Q: What was your methodology?A: The idea is to tell how good somebody's spending on electronic components is compared to market. Lytica predicts when something doesn't seem to fit. For example, one company's prices on a component may rank the 10th position most of the time, but for specific parts and components they ranked at the 30th. Lytica would advise them to negotiate prices consistent with the 10th position for those specific parts and components. And 80% of the time they would get prices close to what we suggested. So, the method has proven to work.Lytica founded this service because everybody is having the same problem of not knowing how much they should pay for the same component. People think they have good pricing just like I did while I was at Nortel, but there is always opportunity.Lytica started doing this, and the database grew bigger and bigger to be the largest in the world of this type. So we hired more staff and came up with different ways of doing the modelling. The reality is, our model is based on the prices people are actually paying, and not by crawling on the web. We formed statistical distribution diagrams, knowing all the prices of the same components used by all companies in Lytica's database. When you come back with a price from a supplier, we can see where you fit in the ranking of that component's distribution, and if it's an outlier in your basket of components, Lytica recommends a price appropriate for you to renegotiate.Q: But there are so many factors that can influence the price.A: Yes. There are big companies and small companies. There are companies which are good negotiators, and those that are poor negotiators. Or those which have great business processes versus those that have not. And high volumes and low volumes. We counted some 60 factors that can influence the price, including freight, volume, channel mark-up, payment-terms, commodity spend and not so obvious factors such as financial risk, inventory reservation levels and geography, etc.There is no way you can come up with an equation for people to do something like price analysis. It is easier to calculate the cost, but that is not true for price. Market demand, negotiating skills, tariffs… you can list all of the things that would affect price. But it turns out cost has no correlation with price. You cannot figure out the price with all those 60 factors, either. Take weather for example, people have not come up with a perfect way to predict weather which needs fewer variables. So it is impossible to try using a bottom-up way of calculating the price. By characterizing how you perform in a marketplace Lytica takes it into account all of the things that you do such as being a skilled negotiator, having a good business practices, and all those other things you do. This characterization use statistical distributions to analyze what you're buying.All a customer needs to do is to give us their list of component pricings using a template. They can achieve great savings because we identify components that, for some reason, the prices are not normal for them. Our clients love this because that saves them time and money.Let me give you an example from the Nortel days. We were purchasing a strip of special metal which is about an inch wide and six inch long. Our development price from the supplier was US$1,100. When it went into production, nobody changed the price. Nortel was buying thousands and thousands of these things at the price which was supposed to be for new product introduction. Lytica is able to find those problems right away.Q: How can component and parts manufacturers in Taiwan or EMS companies make Lytica their tool to improve their operations?A: We started with many OEMs as customers because we didn't think the contract manufacturers would like our service as they're selling parts. But EMS do a lot of buying for the OEMs. Now EMS people come to Lytica, saying, "You've got to help us." Their customers demanded a lower price for components because they feel they are paying too much, but EMS have both sides of the equation. They have both the buy side and sell side problems. They were not always getting the best prices themselves. They now are using Lytica to test their prices and make sure they are not charging too much to their customers. So for EMS, they have advantage on both sides using Lytica.Lytica has more OEM customers than EMS. But EMS is the largest single market segment that we have, representing 30-35% of our businesses. Our smallest customer has US$5 million in sales a year, and the largest is among the largest corporations in the Fortune 500 or Global 2000 list. In terms of verticals, we've got customers from computer, automotive, medical, Internet of Things (IoT), etc. We are well-represented on the high end, and our goal is to capture the other 180,000 companies out there using electronic components.Q: Are any of those customers from Asia?A: Most of our customers are US and European companies. Some of the computer companies are from Asia. Some are from Taiwan. Pretty much every customer we have sources somewhere from Asia or the rest of the world. It is hard to get electronic components not associated with China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.Q: How big is your team? Do you have offices in Asia?A: There are 25 people in the company and growing rapidly, and are all located in Ottawa, Canada. If we wanted to set up offices in Asia, Shenzhen, Taiwan and Shanghai would be great places to do that.Lytica uses technologies so that we don't need to have remote offices everywhere. One of the things we need to have in order to do this job properly, is to have information on componentry. Some companies have offices set up in India or China, with 300 people to do component engineering and manage data information. Lytica does this using artificial intelligence technology. Around 80% of our people have technical degrees, such as science and engineering, mathematics. Lytica has PhDs who've worked with technology and research organizations. We've got a good mix of older people with production and distribution experiences, and young people with skills in AI and data analytics. Our employees speak 18 different languages. The diversity of the company forced us to venture on solutions in different ways than the ones currently adopted in the market.What we've done with technology is to read documents and organize information by use of machines. We do very sophisticated modelling. That really cuts down on our need to have a lot of people doing those tasks. On the sales front we're growing fast. We have transitioned from being a traditional consulting company into a world class software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform company.Lytica is expanding our global presence with marketing and sales initiatives. Asia is an important area of focus and we're bringing in a lot of business leads from there. The majority of our leads come from Asia, Europe, and the US. Our customer profile looks like an inverted pyramid. Most of our customers are huge companies with revenues over US$5 billion a year, and some of them are in the world's largest market cap group. We've got a very good position, because we receive a lot of quality data from those customers, and the opportunity to grow with these data. As the roadmap goes forward, we are able to increase our capabilities and help them get better pricing and improve their processes.The data that our customers give us are confidential, and we do not disclose customers' names. Some customers would mention that they use our service, and some would not.Q: Efficiency seemed to be the golden rule before Covid-19. However, the pandemic sems to have shifted the attention towards supply chain resilience and risk diversification. How has the pandemic affected your business?A: When Covid hit, everybody tightened up, because nobody knew what the impact's going to be and how long to last. We saw our sales go down, and customers delayed spending. There was this six-month period that nobody knew what's going to happen. In the last three or four months, all of our customers have started buying again, and we got new customers at a tremendous rate as we changed to a SaaS model. We actually are having our third record quarters in a row.Your comment about efficiency is interesting. I think efficiency is still the golden rule. Companies still need efficiency, but the problem is, they're not quantifying risk adequately. As they have been hit with risk from a couple of sources - one is the pandemic, one is the trade tension, one is the semiconductor shortage - so they are demanding diversity and resilience. From my perspective, resilience is a result of well-thought-out processes. So the companies that are succeeding are the ones with the most solid practices. Many times, I see a company having to pay more, it is because they did not forecast well enough to be able to ensure the supply they needed. Or they did not have adequate thinking into their sourcing strategy. When you are good at business intelligence and planning, you are in better shape. When the world was short of capacitors in 2018, we saw some companies which were getting solid pricing and supplies. They were the ones with the best planning systems. Other companies which have "I will be able to negotiate when I need it" mindsets were paying prices that are 2-3-4 times than they should in premiums just to get components. It is the practices that are the root cause that drive diversity and resilience. Companies need to have appreciations for diversity and use Lytica's SaaS platform.Lytica chairman Ken BradleyPhoto: Company

Third-party foundries will continue to play an important role in Intel's freshly unveiled IDM 2.0 strategy. TSMC is currently a major contract chipmaker for the US chip giant, and is expected to remain so in the foreseeable future. Chip shortages are worsening, spreading across many different market segments. Sercomm has disclosed networking chip lead times have now extended to a year. In Taiwan, some major companies, such as Compal and Asustek, are eyeing smart pole business opportunities. They have formed an alliance aiming to set smart pole standards for the worldwide market.TSMC to remain major foundry partner of Intel: TSMC has been a major foundry partner of Intel and will remain so in the foreseeable future, despite the ambitious foundry plan that the US chip vendor has just unveiled, according to industry sources.Delivery lead times for networking chips extend to 50 weeks, says Sercomm: Global chips shortages have spread to the networking segment from notebook and automotive sectors, with delivery lead times for networking chips from vendors already extended to as long as 50 weeks due to extremely tight foundry capacity, according to James Wang, president at Sercomm, a Taiwan-based broadband networking solutions provider.Alliance formed in Taiwan to promote 5G smart pole standards: A total of 25 companies have newly formed a 5G Smart Pole Standard Promotion Alliance, aiming to draft technological standards and tap huge smart-city business opportunities worldwide.

Intel has unveiled its so-called IDM 2.0 strategy, with a US$20 billion plan to build two fabs in the US to beef up its manufacturing capacity, plus a new business unit for providing foundry services. The move comes amid tight supply across many different semiconductor segments. Some analog IDMs have had to extend their delivery lead times to as long as 40 weeks for many segments in order to accomodate urgent demand for automotive applications. In the backend sector, demand for wire-bonding capacity is expected to stay robust throughout 2021.Intel announces US$20 billion fab expansion plans in foundry revamp: Intel has announced plans to invest about US$20 billion to build two new fabs in Arizona in line with what it calls its IDM 2.0 strategy, seeking to become a major provider of foundry capacity in the US and Europe to serve worldwide customers.Analog IDMs extending delivery lead times: Analog IDMs have prolonged their delivery lead times to as long as 40 weeks as they probably have given priority to producing automotive chips that have been in severe short supply, according to sources at Taiwan-based OEMs.Wire-bonding capacity to sustain full utilization throughout 2021: IC backend houses are expected to run their mainstream wire-bonding packaging lines at full capacity through the end of the year to meet strong demand for automotive and consumer chips, and their supply of flip-chip (FC) packaging remains constrained due to substrate shortages, according to industry sources.

Taiwan-based QT Medical and Lubn Taiwan have joined Qualcomm Advantage Network (QAN), with both participating in Qualcomm's Smart Cities Accelerator Program and focusing on developing IoT innovations.QT founder and CEO Ruey-Kang Chang pointed out that the company is mainly developing technologies for remote and home medical care and has developed solutions to bridge medical staff and patients with heart diseases.Lubn founder and CEO YC Chung noted that his company offers IoT and automation technologies for managing real estate including access control. As demand for managing real estate has been picking up, the company's automated services will be able to assist its clients to achieve their targets in a very short time, he said.