Taiwan-based IC design houses have seen demand for TVs and set-top boxes (STB) pick up, and are expected to enjoy more than 20% sequential growth in their shipments of TV-related chips in the third quarter of 2018, according to industry sources.

MediaTek, Novatek Microelectronics, Himax Technologies, ALi, Rafael Microelectronics and Weltrend Semiconductor will all see sales generated from the TV and SoC sectors drive their overall revenue growth in the third quarter, said the sources.

Competition among China- and Korea-based TV brands has become fierce since the second half of 2018, the sources indicated. Taiwan-based TV-related chip providers are being pinpointed as the beneficiaries of China-based TV vendors' growing competitiveness against Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics particularly in the China market, the sources said.

Samsung, for example, has seen its TV market share in China fall substantially. According to IHS Markit, Samsung's TV market share in China reached as low as 2.2% in the first quarter of 2018, while its global market share came to 19.2%.

In addition, inventory levels at TV manufacturers have been pretty lean due to sluggish demand over the past year, according to sources at Taiwan's fabless IC firms. Chip orders for TVs and STBs are set to grow through the fourth quarter of 2018, the sources said.

Several Taiwan-based IC design houses have already seen their order visibility for TV-related chips extend to over four weeks from 2-3 weeks, the sources continued.

By: DocMemory
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