TSMC's positive outlook for the rest of 2019 has lifted the cloud over the semiconductor supply chain. For passive component makers, business improvements may not come right away, but they are banking on 5G...

Taiwan-based IC backend supply chain players are optimistic about their performance prospects for the second half of 2019 in line with TSMC's positive outlook about demand for high-end mobile APs from smartphone vendors and high-performance computing (HPC) chips form datacenter operators, according...

Foundry chipmaker TSMC is looking to enter a new phase of growth when 5G commercialization kicks off, market observers believe.

TSMC expects its third-quarter revenues to be driven mainly by growing demand coming from the smartphone and IoT sectors, and believes the fourth quarter will be even stronger thanks mainly to chip demand for smartphones and HPC devices, according to company CFO Lora Ho.

Despite the fact that China's smartphone market is shrinking, Taiwan's semiconductor component suppliers still see a silver lining in the horizon as Chinese smartphone vendors are gearing up efforts to develop 5G-enabled models, according to industry sources.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) expects to post consolidated revenues of between US$9.1 billion and US$9.2 billion in the third quarter of 2019, up about 18% sequentially. Gross margin and operating margin will also climb to 46-48% and 35-37%, respectively.

China-based Bitmain Technologies has reportedly placed around US$300 million worth of orders with TSMC for processing 30,000 wafers on 7nm node amid speculated sharp increase in demand for crypto mining ASICs fueled by the recent rebound of Bitcoin prices, but market observers remain skeptical.

The 2019 global electronic systems market will grow 4% to US$1,680 billion, but the worldwide semiconductor market is expected to drop by 12% this year to US$443.8 billion after exceeding the US$500 billion level for the first time in 2018, according to forecasts by IC Insights.

The Japan-Korea trade tensions may be hitting Samsung's semiconductor business, but at least its foundry unit should be able to maintain normal operations in the meantime. It has been a bad year for the Korean giant: It has warned that...

Apple has reportedly asked its supply chain partner to supply VCSEL components for use in rear ToF camera lens in its mobile devices to be released in 2020, according to supply chain sources.

ASE Technology Holding has announced it will buy back the stakes of China-based subsidiaries Siliconware Technology (Suzhou) and Suzhou ASEN Semiconductors it has sold to Tsinghua Unigroup, according to company filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

Japan's tighter export control on photoresists and two other critical materials used in South Korea's high-tech sector are unlikely to benefit TSMC much given the relatively small scale of Samsung's foundry business. The impact on Samsung's own-brand business will be more substantial, according to...

Inspection equipment specialist Chroma ATE has signed a strategic cooperation MoU with Altair Engineering, under which the pair will work together to jointly develop tools for electric vehicle (EV) development and testing, as well as digital twins of e-propulsion testing systems.

Intel may have eased its CPU shortages, but competition from its arch rival AMD is intensifying. Both vendors are set to unveil new top-of-the-line desktop processors in October in a new round of battle between the chip vendors. Meanwhile,...

Intel and AMD are both set to roll out their new top-end desktop processors in October, triggering competition between them in the DIY market segment, according to sources at motherboard makers.

Taiwan-based backend houses and COF substrate suppliers will see orders from Huawei pick up in July or August, according to industry sources.

Foxconn is not satisifed with its role as merely the biggest EMS provider in thew world, as its latest deployments have demonstrated its ambitions in building an ecosystem that includes semiconductor and brand businesses. Meanwhile, some...

Foxconn Technology Group, gearing up to build its own semiconductor ecosystem, is expected to activate a new round of acquisition deals to fill up the gaps in its supply chain, according to industry sources.

Memory backend specialist Orient Semiconductor Electronics (OSE) saw its second-quarter revenues climb to a record high of NT$4.55 billion (US$146.4 million), driven by a pull-in of orders for NAND flash chips, as well as orders for EMS services.

Taiwan-based Topco Scientific, a distributor of semiconductor materials, has clarified that it will supply Japan-sourced photoresist and other related semiconductor materials to clients only in Taiwan and China and will continue following its Japanese suppliers' policies.

Epitaxial wafer supplier Visual Photonics Epitaxy Company (VPEC) is expected to see significant revenue increases for the third quarter of 2019 as it has started intensive shipments of VCSEL components since the beginning of July for applications to handset power amplifiers (PA), face-identification...

For the IT industries, there are still many uncertainties, such as the outcome of the US-China trade talk, lying ahead for the rest of the year. TSMC's better-than-expected second-quarter sales may prompt optimism, but it remains to be seen whether its biggest client, Apple, can wow the market with...

Global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment by original equipment manufacturers are projected to drop 18.4% to US$52.7 billion in 2019 from last year's historic high of US$64.5 billion, according to SEMI.

TSMC's better-than-expected revenues for second-quarter 2019 in defiance of some operational hiccups may have come as a confidence boost, but a spate of variables may affect the pure-play foundry's performance in the second half of the year, with the most crucial factor being the sales momentum of...

Any form of trade war, such as Japan's restrictions on exports of key chemical materials to Korea, will have a negative impact on global industrial development, as each of the players in the supply chain has very specific roles to play, according to Paul Peng, chairman of AU Optronics (AUO).