2-10: MediaTek has indicated that sales of 5G mobile phones in 2020 are expected to reach 170M-200M units; T-Mobile is expected to expand its 5G business in 2020; etc.
Chipsets
MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai predicts that with the gradual construction of a global 5G network, sales of 5G mobile phones in 2020 are expected to reach 170M-200M units, of which 5G mobile phone sales in the Chinese mainland market are 100M-120M units—compared to 2019 forecast, he is more optimistic about the development of 5G phone sales throughout the year. (UDN, CN Beta)
TSMC’s guided 2020 capex to be USD15B-16B, 80% of which will be for advanced nodes (3nm, 5nm, and 7nm), 10% for advanced packaging (including mask), and 10% for specialty semis, which should help the company maintain >50% gross margin. (IHS Markit report, IHS Markit report)
Huawei’s smartphone shipments grew rapidly in 2H19, with mid to high end models growing rapidly, all of which use HiSilicon chipset. Due to trade war, Huawei did not use Qualcomm chips in mid to low end projects in 2H19. On the other hand, Huawei’s continued use of MediaTek’s low end chips, MediaTek’s share rose slightly in 2H19. (IHS Markit report, IHS Markit report)
Touch Display
According to IHS Markit, the shipment of flexible AMOLED folding displays for foldable phones in 2019 is 700K pieces, and the number of shipments is expected to be 3.93M in 2020. The growth rate of foldable phone penetration is still slow. (IHS Markit report, IHS Markit report)
Memory
With inventory levels at the NAND manufacturers normalizing, it is expected that overall wafer output will grow just slightly in 2020 as vendors aim to keep up with the improving demand environment, but proceeding with caution so as to not create another oversupply situation. (IHS Markit report, IHS Markit report)
Connectivity
T-Mobile is expected to expand its 5G business in 2020. Currently, the company has a 600MHz 5G network in the US, covering more than 200M people. The company CTO Neville Ray has indicated that By 2020, we can easily increase this number by 30%-40%. (GizChina, IT Home, Reuters, T-Mobile)
Phone
Should the outbreak of the coronavirus in China prolong to Jun 2020, sales of smartphones in the country would be slashed by about 30% to 280M units in 2020, down from the previous projection of 400M units, according to Digitimes. The number of handset inventory turnover days in China is normally 20 days, but the turnover days of smartphones for Huawei, OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi have risen to more than 40 days recently. (Digitimes, press, Digitimes)
OPPO has applied for a unique smartphone stylus patent. The patented stylus pen has a built-in battery and microphone, and supports Bluetooth wireless connectivity. (Laoyaoba, CN Beta, LetsGoDigital,
Samsung India has withdrawn its consumer promotion with Amazon’s digital payment service, Amazon Pay, for smartphones after huge protest from offline cellphone retailers. Samsung has previously rolled out a 5% and INR1,500 cashback offers, depending on the phone models, when the payment is done through Amazon Pay. All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) has also previously planned for boycott of Samsung sales from 11-13 Feb 2020. (Gizmo China, India Times)
According to GamingScan, the mobile gaming market is now the largest segment of gaming in general. In 2018, the mobile game market was valued at USD68.5B, most of which (USD54.9B) comes from smartphones and a smaller fraction (USD13.6B) from tablets. (GSM Arena, Gaming Scan)
