Taiwan-based IC test solutions provider Chunghwa Precision Test Tech (CHPT) expects to post sequential revenue increases through the fourth quarter of 2021, buoyed by growing demand for 5G smartphone chips, as well as HPC and radio-frequency ICs, according to company president Scott Huang.
Huang pointed out that his company is currently a top-3 supplier of MEMS probe cards for non-memory products and will maintain growth momentum in 2022, thanks to 5G smartphones' accelerating penetration.
CHPT's second-quarter operation underperformed expectations due to surging COVID-19 infections in Taiwan, which deferred part of its engineering testing projects, said Huang, adding that the company's operation should return to normal starting August.
Because of the pandemic, the company's operation will not follow the regular seasonal pattern, with the fourth-quarter sales to outperform those in the third, Huang stated.
Sources from the upstream supply chain also revealed that the keen development of 5G smartphone APs by first-tier IC designers such as MediaTek and Qualcomm is expected to continue driving up CHPT's high-end testing interface business in the next several quarters, while launches of new Android smartphones in the second half will also contribute orders. However, CHPT declined to comment on specific clients or orders.
Some research firms also expect 5G smartphone shipments to surpass one billion units with a penetration rate of over 70% by 2024, up significantly from 2021's 540 million units and nearly 40%, and 2022's over 700 million and over 50%, respectively.
Although wafer foundries worldwide have been keenly expanding capacity, Huang believes oversupply is unlikely to occur in the semiconductor industry within the next 1-2 years.
