01 IGBT production capacity continues to be released The gap between supply and demand will narrow in the second half of 2023
According to DIGITIMES Research, the global insulated gate bipolar transistor (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor; Due to the strong demand in the electric vehicle and photovoltaic power generation markets, the overall supply-demand gap reached 13.6% under the condition of limited production capacity on the supply side.
Looking forward to 2023, the global IGBT industry production capacity continues to expand, coupled with the economic haze may lead to a slowdown in the growth rate of the electric vehicle market, and in the remaining IGBT related applications, only the new installed capacity of new energy power generation has clear momentum, so the global IGBT supply and demand gap will narrow to -2.5% in 2023, and the current shortage is gradually coming to an end.
02 The demand for server products in 2023 is good, and the three major operators have increased their procurement efforts
Under the influence of policies such as “new infrastructure” and “east-west computing”, the operator industry assumes the responsibility for the supply and transmission of most of the basic computing power resources, and the recently popular ChatGPT also needs AI computing power, the “new fuel” of the digital era, and the demand for diversified computing power in the operator industry is also growing steadily.
According to the information of the operator’s procurement and bidding related websites, Lenovo, ZTE, Digital China, Baode Computing, Super Fusion, Inspur, Wuhan Yangtze River, Xinhua III and other manufacturers frequently received operator server orders.
03 The medical device industry is still suffering from chip shortages
British medical device manufacturer Smith & Nephew recently said that although most chip shortages are easing, medical device manufacturers are still affected by chip shortages.
Deepak Nath, CEO of Smith & Nephew, said medical device makers have fewer orders than customers in many other industries, so chipmakers are not prioritizing chip supply in the medical device industry. There are still problems with chip supply in the medical industry.
04 Insider: MagnaChip will shut down its South Korean plant for a week
On February 24, 2023, MagnaChip’s wafer fab in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, will be shut down for one week from the 25th of this month due to soaring inventory and sluggish demand, according to supply chain insiders.
MagnaChip is a manufacturer of organic light-emitting diode display driver chips. Its global market share in 2020 was 33.2%, ranking second only to Samsung Electronics. The Gumi plant mainly produces power semiconductors. Based on the input of 8-inch wafers, the monthly production capacity is 40,000 pieces.
According to Magna Chip’s fourth quarter 2022 and fiscal year 2022 full-year results announcement, its fourth-quarter revenue was $61 million, down 44.7% year-over-year; Gross margin was 26.4%, down 35% from the same period in 2021; Operating loss was US$10.117 million, compared to operating profit of US$63.87 million in the same period in 2021. The company’s full-year 2022 revenue was $337.7 million, down 28.8% year-on-year, and operating profit turned into a loss from $83.4 million in the previous year.
From a quarterly perspective, MagnaChip’s earnings declined significantly. The industry insider said that MagnaChip’s one-week shutdown should be caused by a decline in performance.
05 NVIDIA: Looking forward to a post-pandemic downturn recovery through AI
NVIDIA recently announced that its revenue for the fourth quarter ended January 30, 2022 reached a record $7.64 billion, up 53% from the same period last year and 8% from the previous quarter. The company’s gaming, data center, and professional vision marketplace platforms all recorded quarterly and full-year revenues.
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, said, “We see strong demand for NVIDIA computing platforms. NVIDIA is driving advances in many of today’s most impactful fields, including artificial intelligence, digital biology, climate science, gaming, creative design, autonomous vehicles, and robotics.”
“As we enter the new year, the company’s businesses are gaining momentum, and the new software business model using NVIDIA AI, NVIDIA Omniverse and NVIDIA DRIVE is gaining popularity,” said Jensen Wong. At the upcoming GTC conference, we will also be announcing many new products, applications, and NVIDIA computing partners.”
Post time: Mar-03-2023