Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) and other IC backend service companies are expected to enjoy brisk sales in the second quarter of 2014 as chipset vendors including Qualcomm, Marvell Technology, HiSilicon Technologies and Broadcom are ramping up shipments of 4G LTE chips, according to industry sources.
China-based mobile operators are ready to ramp up sales of LTE-enable smartphones starting the second quarter, noted the sources, adding that China Mobile alone aims to sell 100 million LTE smartphones in 2014.
SPIL announced in late March plans to hike its capex for 2014 by 50% to NT$14.7 billion (US$485.95 million) due to a surge in orders from Qualcomm, Marvell and HiSilicon, the sources indicated.
Orders from Qualcomm, Marvell and HiSilicon will keep SPIL's production lines humming in the second half of 2014, added the sources.
ASE is also expected to ramp up the production capacity of its mainstream production lines in the second quarter, and therefore is likely to increase its capex for 2014, the sources commented.
Article translated by Steve Shen
