The extent of the impact on the ecosystem by the coronavirus outbreak is anyone's guess at this stage, but industry and market observers generally agree that a prolonged epidemic will take a heavy toll on both the supply chain and consumer demand. The China smartphone market is very likely to see a sharp drop in shipments in first-quarter 2020, and in a more optimistic scenario, smartphone shipments to the China market will drop 9% if the outbreak can be contained by the end of February, according to some observers. This is bad news for everyone involved in the smartphone market, including vendors of mobile processors. MediaTek, who has a strong presnece in China's handset maket, may see a sequential decline of as much as 15% in revenues in the first quarter. But foundry house TSMC is not ready to revise its guidance for the first-quarter sales, which accroding to its forecast given last month, will decrease slightly compared to fourth-quarter 2019.
China smartphone shipments to fall off a cliff in 1Q20: Smartphone shipments in China are likely to fall off a cliff in the first quarter of 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to industry sources.
MediaTek 1Q20 sales likely to fall 15%: MediaTek is likely to post a revenue decline of as much as 15% sequentially in the first quarter of 2020, due mainly to a collapse in demand from China's handset market, according to market sources.
TSMC reiterates sales guidance for 1Q20: TSMC currently has no plans to revise its sales and margin guidance for the first quarter of 2020, according to the pure-play foundry, which also disclosed non-production staff at its China-based wafer fabs will return to work on February 10.