TSMC, the Only Arms Dealer in Town?
We have seen the first 5G phones emerge in 2019, but 2020 will likely be the year when 5G devices go mainstream in many markets. 5G smartphone shipment is expected to reach 200-250M units globally with China contributing more than 50%. MediaTek and Qualcomm recently announced their latest 5G chipset solutions, laying the foundation for a 2020 ramp but also setting the stage for a more competitive baseband market for the coming year.
With MediaTek and Qualcomm officially announced their products, we summarize some of the important features of the flagship baseband solutions currently available from Huawei, Samsung, MediaTek, and Qualcomm.
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It is interesting that Huawei and MediaTek choose to offer an integrated modem while others opt for a discrete modem for flexibility and mmWave support. There are other different features including camera features and AI support. But we’ll have to wait for the end devices to test the performance of different solutions.
One thing worth noting is that almost all of the 5G chipset providers rely on TSMC to actually manufacture the chip. Our latest channel check at TSMC indicates a very tight capacity at 7nm. Customers have to put in order 6 months in advance to make sure they can get their order filled. Apple, AMD, and Bitmain are also aggressively fighting for the same 7nm capacity.
Without any other alternatives, TSMC is acting as the only arms dealer in a war that no one can afford to lose, and getting enough supply from TSMC is critical for the ones fighting the war. This is why we continue to like TSMC's long-term 5G potential.
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