The foundry capacity is tight, and while the price hike trend in the second quarter has been established, it is reported in the industry that some foundries have recently launched a second wave of capacity bidding. IC design customers themselves propose price increases to compete for additional demand Capacity, the higher the price, will be produced in the second quarter.
According to industry sources, if the IC design factory wants to successfully win the bid, it is estimated that the price increase per chip is at least hundreds of dollars, which is equivalent to about 15% to 20% higher than the price after the general production capacity price increase, so that there is a chance to grab more additional capacity. .
At this stage, foundry is a seller’s market, and IC designers can only accept price increases. The industry pointed out that since the fourth quarter of last year to January this year, some foundries have successively raised prices, and a second wave of price increases will be launched in the second quarter.
IC designers said that even if an order is placed in the same foundry, the price increase varies depending on the production plant and process. “Even if two waves have been raised, it does not mean that this year’s price hike is over.”
As for the bid for additional wafer quota, the price is increased on the basis of the aforementioned price increase. The industry pointed out that some foundries have provided some capacity quotas for the second quarter and let IC design customers put forward their own prices to bid. Judging from the results of the last quarter 1 bidding, the price increase per wafer ranges from $100 to $300.
This is the second wave of bidding after the unprecedented wafer foundry capacity bidding in the first quarter of this year, which highlights the fiery market conditions and the insufficiency of foundry capacity. Even if the cost of bidding is higher, IC design houses are still willing to tender.
IC designers revealed that downstream clients also know that the foundry capacity is quite tight now, so they give priority to trying to ensure capacity, even if they increase prices.
IC designers frankly admit that everyone will evaluate how much the bidding will raise the cost. Even if the price has been raised successively to reflect the rising cost, if the foundry price increases again, a second price increase will be initiated in the future.
The same batch of goods rose twice?Foundry: It will never happen
Wafer foundry capacity is tight, and UMC and the world’s advanced companies have successively raised prices, but leading TSMC has not raised prices this year due to tight production capacity. Recently, it was reported in the market that the price of a listed wafer foundry increased twice for the same batch, once when placing an order, and once again when shipping. The industry generally pointed out that this kind of thing cannot happen, because the foundry Contracts are signed with all customers’ orders. Whether the production capacity is in excess or in short supply, it will follow the contract and there will be no sudden price increase.
Taiwanese media quoted market sources and pointed out that the quotation for new orders of Taiwan-listed wafer foundries will increase by 15% from May. When the order is to be picked up, the price will be increased by 15%. However, people in the industry generally pointed out that it is impossible for the foundry price of the same batch of wafers to be increased twice.
Both TSMC and UMC have classified foundry prices as confidential and declined to comment on market news related to prices. The industry pointed out that after the foundry and the customer complete the negotiation and signing, they will perform according to the contract.
The industry explained that the logic process capacity of all wafer foundries in Taiwan will only increase once if there is a price increase, and the price negotiation will be completed before wafer production, and will not increase again when wafers are produced. However, the only thing that will be adjusted in wafer shipment is DRAM wafer foundry. When wafer shipment is made, the price will be adjusted according to the DRAM market conditions. However, this adjustment has already been written in black and white when negotiating prices and signing contracts before filming. must be clear.
UMC estimates that the average dollar price of wafer sales in the first quarter of this year will increase by 2 to 3% compared with the previous quarter, but it is estimated that the average dollar price of wafer sales this year will increase by 4 to 6% compared with last year, an increase of less than 10%. As for TSMC, which has not raised any foundry prices this year, Wei Zhejia, president of TSMC, mentioned in last year’s legal meeting that TSMC will not raise prices because of the shortage of production capacity.
In addition, the United States, Japan, and Germany all hope to support the production capacity of automotive chips, and there are rumors that automotive chips will crowd out other production capacity. However, it is understood that the proportion of automotive chips in Taiwan’s foundry production capacity is less than 3%, and it is impossible for automotive chips to crowd out the production capacity of chips such as mobile phones and computers. TSMC meets the demand by increasing the capacity utilization rate to more than 100% or adjusting the priority of film casting, and will not reduce the capacity of customers who have placed orders.
The Links: DS90UH929TRGCRQ1 SKM200GB124D