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| Viewpoint | |
February 1, 2021
VIEWPOINT 2021: Asif R. Chowdhury, Senior Vice President, UTAC Group
While COVID19 has played havoc around the world, surprisingly it had some unintended and perhaps unforeseen, positive consequences for some of the key sectors of the semiconductor market. As companies implemented 'working from home' policy for better part of 2020, which is still being continued in most countries, it required employees to have PCs and laptops, significantly increasing the sale of PCs and peripheral equipment. Similarly, due to travel restrictions, people staying at home got more involved in on-line shopping, social media and watching TV series and movies in outlets such as Netflix and Amazon, soaring the demand for servers and storage which in turn created a significant demand in semiconductor devices, particularly for power products. 2020 also saw a spike in on-line gaming activities. While many people unfortunately suffered job-loss, people with jobs saw an increase in disposable income due to limited or no travels and entertainment. This resulted in an overall increased sale of electronic gadgets. There were certain sectors which did not fare so well such as the automotive market. In 2020, automotive semiconductor likely saw the slowest demand in over a decade. But overall, 2020 turned out to be a positive year for semiconductor despite the COVID19 predicament. As we enter 2021, the market remains strong, especially through the first half based on forecasted demand. Supply of certain equipment and material are lagging this higher demand resulting in longer delivery cycle time and in many cases, higher prices. Many of the semiconductor companies are talking about raising prices for the first time in decades. While the second half of 2021 remain uncertain most of the analysts are predicting high single-digit to low double-digit growth for '21. From what we see today, such a growth is very likely. Asif R. Chowdhury, Senior Vice President, Japan Business, Marketing & Corporate Business Development UTAC Group http://www.utacgroup.com |
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