July 9, 2007
The Economic Daily News reports that several Taiwanese IC driver manufacturers are anticipating orders for the second generation of Apple's iPhone.
Apple's mobile phone uses a touch screen, which Taiwanese LCD suppliers AUO and Innolux have reportedly been supplying as a backup to main German OEM Balda. The EDN report says that through AUO and Innolux, IC driver manufacturers Novatek and Sitronix have received orders for IC drivers for the second generation of iPhones, slated for next year.
Novatek declined comment, citing a policy of confidentiality with its clients.
Industry insiders say that as Taiwan flat panel display manufacturers have been developing touch screens for mobile devices, side opportunities have also been created for IC design fabs, which provide IC drivers needed for LCD screens.
A number of sources from the IC driver business have noted that Novatek and Sitronix hold strong ambitions in gaining a stake as a supplier for Apple iPhones. Novtek has been preparing by producing a run of IC drivers in cooperation with a mainland Chinese company, according to the EDN report.
Given the fact that IC drivers for mobile phone screens require low power consumption, and non-interference and anti-static capabilities, Apple made a reasonable decision in choosing to work with several prominent Japanese suppliers for IC drivers for the iPhone's initial production run, said an industry source. However, Taiwan's fully integrated and complete supply chain for semiconductors offers a cost-effective advantage, said the industry source.
Novatek said that IC driver production for mobile phone screens accounted for approximately 11% of company revenues per month last year. The company says it expects IC drivers for medium and large sized mobile phone TFT-LCD screens will account for an even larger portion of revenues in the future.
Sitronix is expecting high growth this year for its mono-color STN IC drivers, color STN IC drivers, and TFT IC drivers. The company is projecting between 20-25% growth in revenues in Q2, and 15% to 20% growth in Q3 due to increased deliveries for single chip systems and IC driver products.
(Economic Daily News)
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