Taiwan-based MOSFET suppliers are mulling raising their quotes to reflect rising silicon wafer and foundry costs, as they are expected to secure more foundry capacities to support their shipments to customers, according to industry sources.
The sources said that foreign MOSFET suppliers have moved to adjust upward their quotes since the second half of 2017 in line with hikes on silicon wafer and foundry quotes, but their Taiwan counterparts including Sinopower Semiconductor, Advanced Power Electronics, Excelliance MOS and Niko Semiconductor have remained conservative about raising quotes for their MOSFET chips due to failure to win sufficient capacity support from 8-inch wafer foundry houses in the first half of the year.
In the beginning of 2018, the overall 8-inch wafer foundry capacity across the Taiwan Strait started to turn tight significantly, with shipment delivery lead time extended to 12 weeks from 6-8 weeks. But Taiwan MOSFET suppliers are expected to see efforts in vying for more capacity support gradually pay off in the second half of the year, with the capacities available to them involving higher quotes, driving them to jack up their prices after gaining consent from downstream clients.
In fact, most MOSFET makers posted an annual revenue growth of over 20% in the first half of 2018, as their restraint on raising quotes helped them increase market shares. In the second half of the year, the makers are expected to score even higher revenue increases due to the upcoming quote hikes.
Industry sources said that Taiwan MOSFET makers are expected to secure much greater capacity support from 8-inch wafer fabs in 2019, when their revenue and profit performances may further improve significantly.