Cage Chao, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Thursday 27
September 2012]
The expanding smartphone market in China has caused the supply of
related chips, such as LCD driver ICs, touchscreen controller ICs and analog
chips, to fall short of demand, according to industry sources.
Companies specializing in the design and development of smartphone
ICs expect their sales performance in the fourth quarter of 2012 to be less
affected by the weak season, the sources indicated. The growing demand for
smartphones in China will be a main source of their revenue growth during the
final quarter of the year, the sources said.
Taking the solutions provided by MediaTek as an example, prices for
the firm's smartphone chips previously soared to as high as US$26 per unit due
to strong demand coming from the white-box handset sector, the sources pointed
out. MediaTek reportedly has increased its wafer starts at Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
MediaTek president Hsieh Ching-chiang was quoted in a recent report
saying that the company has enjoyed booming sales of its smartphone solutions,
and the momentum will continue in the first quarter 2013. Hsieh cited an upsurge
in replacement demand for smartphones in China as a contributing factor.
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