Consumer electronics are directly affected by the drastic changes in the semiconductor supply chain, and the IC design and IC manufacturing businesses have also been negatively impacted by the decline in demand. In contrast, the automotive electronics sector continues to grow steadily. For instance, Chinese vendors in the memory sector including GigaDevice, Ingenic Semiconductor, Macronix, and Winbond are raising the proportion of automotive goods in their sales in an effort to capitalize on potential future development.
In a recent performance forecast for the first half of 2022, GigaDevice predicted that its net profit attributable to shareholders would reach CNY152 million, an increase of 93.46 percent annually. The business stated that it would maintain its product and customer adjustments while increasing sales in the industrial and automotive industries.
GigaDevice, a significant MCU and memory chip provider in China, has accelerated its transition from the consumer electronics market to the automotive industry in recent years, with its NOR products entering the auto market and its NAND products getting auto-grade certification. Additionally, GigaDevice will introduce its first Cortex M33-based auto-grade MCU. Trials are now taking place, and volume manufacturing is scheduled to begin in the middle of 2022.
Driven by the surge in automotive electronics demand, according to IC Insights, Gigadevice’s NOR devices are seeing a 100 percent yearly growth, reaching US$670 million. Its market share has increased to 23.2% and is anticipated to increase further in 2022. More than 19 billion NOR chips and 1 billion MCUs have been supplied by GigaDevice combined, with both devices finding use in a variety of industrial, consumer, automotive, and telecommunication markets.
With the help of its NOR memory chips, Ingenic Semiconductor, another significant memory chip manufacturer in China, is also targeting the auto industry. Ingenic’s NOR revenues increased overall by more than 30% in Q1. Ingenic offers 2D NAND products as well, albeit in a lower volume.
Amid rising inflation, the conflict in the Ukraine, and the epidemic in China, uncertainty still hangs over the whole semiconductor supply chain, some of which worry that the car chip market may fall short of expectations.
Industry sources claim that the current decline in chip prices has primarily affected consumer gadgets and that a fundamental difference is slowly emerging that limits price reductions to mid- to low-end chips while high-end chips continue to see price increases.
Additionally, the difference is seen in various regions and industries. The Chinese market and the car chip industry are still likely to grow. In fact, as Counterpoint Research pointed out, the markets for automotive chips and industrial MCUs are unaffected by the decline in consumer demand. On the other hand, major chip design firms like Qualcomm and MediaTek have started to be drawn to the vehicle market’s potential for future growth.
