The semiconductor production chain is not slack during the off-season in the second quarter. Not only is there a shortage of capacity in 12-inch factories, but 8-inch factories are also unexpectedly tight on capacity! Including TSMC, UMC, World Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (WASMC), and other manufacturers, orders for 8-inch factories have rapidly returned recently. It is initially estimated that the capacity utilization rate will rise to over 90% in May, and there may even be a shortage of capacity in June.

Industry insiders point out that the four main reasons for the shortage of 8-inch fab capacity are the chip procurement effect before the launch of Intel's Haswell processor platform, the increased demand for LCD driver ICs driven by 4K2K panels and mobile devices, the shift from 6-inch to 8-inch wafer fabrication for power management ICs, and the widespread adoption of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) components in mobile devices.

Intel will launch the Haswell processor in early June. The new platform features numerous changes, including the first adoption of a light sensing IC. Since the new specification chips are all manufactured using mature 8-inch wafer processes, the stocking effect has already led to urgent orders for 8-inch fabs.

In the second quarter, panel manufacturers shipped large quantities of 4K2K ultra-high-definition panels with ultra-high image quality. Due to the adoption of a narrow bezel design, the usage of LCD driver ICs is twice that of HD panels of the same size. Companies including Lianying, Qijing, and Ruiding have recently expanded their production. TSMC, World Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, United Microelectronics Corporation, and Giant Crystal's high-pressure production capacity reached full capacity in mid-April, with orders filling up until mid-third quarter.

In addition, the power management IC market is fiercely competitive, with international IDM factories lowering prices to win orders. Domestic analog IC factories, including Liqi, Zhixin, and Maoda, have shifted their production lines from 6-inch to 8-inch fabs to reduce costs. For domestic wafer foundries, 8-inch fabs originally did not have much analog and mixed-signal process capacity. With analog IC factories fully shifting to 8-inch fabs, the capacity will naturally fall short of demand.

Recently, mobile devices have incorporated many innovative applications, extensively utilizing microelectromechanical components such as gyroscopes and MEMS microphones. Additionally, Apple's newly introduced fingerprint recognition ICs, all fabricated using mature 0.25-0.35 micron processes at 8-inch fabs, have also consumed a significant amount of production capacity at these fabs.