According to DIGITIMES, industry sources have revealed that the supply of automotive and industrial chips remains tight, while stocks of consumer chips continue to pile up throughout the supply chain.
Consumer IC inventories held by distributors and downstream equipment suppliers have reached alarming levels, and nearly every segment of the consumer IC industry is in a state of overstock, the sources said.
In a best-case scenario, consumer IC suppliers could take six months to complete inventory corrections, the sources noted. As a result, the outlook for consumer electronics demand in the second half of 2022 is generally pessimistic.
A few days ago, TSMC had warned that customers may adjust their inventories before the first half of 2023.
TSMC CEO Chieh-Chih Wei said in the company’s recent earnings call that as momentum slows in the smartphone, PC and consumer side of the market, related industry supply chains will be involved in inventory adjustments in the second half of 2022.
The outlook for automotive, industrial and other non-consumer IC demand remains positive, according to industry sources. IDMs such as NXP Semiconductors continue to see their supply of automotive and industrial chips outstrip demand.
