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https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20181130PD202.html

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Order visibility for the pure-play IC foundry sector for the first half of 2019 appears to be low. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has started negotiating with its fabless clients on orders for next year, while other foundries are likely to lower their quotes to attract orders during the slow season, according to industry sources.

TSMC is encouraging its fabless clients to place orders in advance for their peak seasons next year so that the foundry will be able to assist them in meeting their shipment schedules for the year, the sources said. TSMC has also requested its clients to place orders for their core products with more than one of its fabs to avoid congestion usually seen during the peak season, the sources noted.

With TSMC actively vying for orders, United Microelectronics (UMC), Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) may end up cutting their quotes to strive for orders during the first half of 2019, the sources said.

UMC, SMIC and VIS are likely to suffer from low utilization rates at their fabs in the first half of 2019, as fabless chipmakers usually regard TSMC as their preferred foundry partner, the sources said.

In addition, 8-inch foundry house VIS has reportedly decided to discontinue its partnership with TSMC in the second quarter of 2019. TSMC has been transferring orders such as those for LCD driver ICs demanding 8-inch wafer process capacity to VIS when its own 8-inch fabs are fully occupied.

While anticipating more available capacities at their foundry partners, Taiwan-based MCU and analog chip suppliers have expressed concerns about whether improvement in their gross margin performance can carry on in 2019, according to sources at Taiwan-based IC design houses.

Unlike MOSFET companies, which have had relatively insufficient support from the foundry partners since 2018, MCU and analog chipmakers may encounter inventory issues prompting them to lower their chip quotes in the first half of 2019, the sources indicated. Many of the MCU and analog chip specialists have managed to improve their gross margins in 2018. However, price-cut competition among them is likely to take place in the first half of 2019 putting their gross margins under downward pressure again, the sources said.

On the other hand, the book-to-bill ratio for MOSFETs has begun to drop and is approaching one since the second half of 2018, thanks to more foundry support, according to sources at Taiwan-based MOSFET chipmakers. The MOSFET chip providers saw their supply become extremely tight in the first half of the year, when 8-inch foundries utilized 100% and even over 100% of their production capacities, according to the sources.