The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting not only production but also the seasonal patterns for many manufacturers. Notebook ODMs are expecting strong shipments for April, a month that has usually been a slow season. Such a seasonal pattern change is posing challenges for their preparations for components inventory, particualrly when visibility for the second half of the year remains opaque. But TSMC's ecosystem partners have received a confidence boost from the foundry's optimisim about its 2020 sales, bolstered by the HPC segment. TSMC is also making Huawei's new Kunpeng 920 server CPU, for which ASE Technology will be its backend partner.
Notebook ODMs face challenges from new seasonal pattern in 2020: Notebook ODMs are expected to witness a completely different seasonal pattern in 2020 and will see shipments in April to remain at levels similar to those in March, according to sources from the notebook supply chain.
TSMC optimistic about HPC products in 2020: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) expects significant sales from the the high performance computing (HPC) sector in 2020, an indication that chip vendors are still maintaining momentum for HPC offering despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to industry sources.
ASE Technology enters Huawei server CPU ecosystem: ASE Technology has entered the backend supply chain of Huawei/HiSilicon's ARM-based Kunpeng 920 server CPU, with its affiliated Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) set to start shipments in third-quarter 2020 for the vendor's latest server chips to be built by TSMC with 7nm process, according to industry sources.