Taiwan's IC suppliers have seen increasing demand for Wi-Fi 6 chips as device vendors have begun rolling out related devices such as routers supporting 5G networks, according to industry sources.
IC design houses including MediaTek, Realtek Semiconductor and RichWave are all expected to see their Wi-Fi 6 chip shipments grow over 30% sequentially in the third quarter, said the sources.
While increasing work from home (WFH) and online learning has helped driven up demand for Wi-Fi 6 devices, the massive investment on 5G infrastructure projects in China will also spur demand for Wi-Fi 6 chips for network upgrades, said the sources.
MeidaTek's Wi-Fi 6 chips are expected to reach serveral million units in 2020 and to expand further in 2021, estimated the sources.
RichWave is positive about the prospects of its sales, profits and gross margin for the third quarter. The company has good order visibility as it is implementing an expansion project aiming to ramp up its backend testing capacity by 30%, the sources indicated.
Realtek has seen its Wi-Fi 6 chips booming on growing demand for routers supporting the needs for WFH and online study, noted the sources, adding that the company's shipments of Ethernet chips and switch chips have also been robust.
Realtek is also optimistic about the prospects for second-half 2020, citing clear order visibility for the third and fourth quarter.
Article translated by Steve Shen
