Taiwan Tech Focused Senior Analyst

Patrick Liao

Equity Bottom-Up

King Yuan Electronics Co, Ltd. / Equity Bottom-Up

King Yuan Electronics Co., Ltd. provides integrated circuit (IC) testing services to semiconductor manufacturers.  The Company tests the logic, memory, and burn-in functions of ICs.  King Yuan also specializes in IC reeling, packaging, and wafer grinding.

<ul>
<li>The <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/king-yuan-electronics-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6630:1" rel="noopener">King Yuan Electronics Co, Ltd. (2449 TT)</a> outlook for 3Q24 could see a 5-10% quarter-on-quarter growth at present.  </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nvidia-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5891:1" rel="noopener">NVIDIA Corp (NVDA US)</a>  is currently the second-largest client of KYEC, and its business is rapidly expanding.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/stmicroelectronics-nv-b981e30b-2a53-4f3d-b1cb-adaac140121c" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33346:1" rel="noopener">STMicroelectronics NV (STM US)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/will-semiconductor-co-ltd-shan" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28274:1" rel="noopener">Will Semiconductor Shan (603501 CH)</a> are currently the third and fourth largest clients, respectively.</li>
</ul>


The King Yuan Electronics Co, Ltd. (2449 TT) outlook for 3Q24 could see a 5-10% quarter-on-quarter growth at present.  

NVIDIA Corp (NVDA US)  is currently the second-largest client of KYEC, and its business is rapidly expanding.

STMicroelectronics NV (STM US) and Will Semiconductor Shan (603501 CH) are currently the third and fourth largest clients, respectively.


KYEC (2449.TT): AI Highly Growth Potential may exceed Expectation.

Novatek Microelectronics Corp / Equity Bottom-Up

Novatek Microelectronics Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets integrated circuits (ICs).  The Company's products are used in telecommunication, computer peripherals, and LCD (liquid crystal display) drivers.

<ul>
<li>We expect Novatek Microelectronics Corp (3034 TT) to achieve approximately a 5% QoQ growth in revenue and relatively flat gross margin (GM) QoQ in 3Q24.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/semiconductor-manufacturing-international-corp-smic" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14231:1" rel="noopener">Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK)</a> and HLMC are capable of producing DDICs at 40nm and below.</li>
<li>Novatek is experiencing a decline in demand for 55nm Touch with Display Driver (TDDI) in 3Q24.</li>
</ul>


We expect Novatek Microelectronics Corp (3034 TT) to achieve approximately a 5% QoQ growth in revenue and relatively flat gross margin (GM) QoQ in 3Q24.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK) and HLMC are capable of producing DDICs at 40nm and below.
Novatek is experiencing a decline in demand for 55nm Touch with Display Driver (TDDI) in 3Q24.


Novatek (3034.TT): To Achieve a ~5% QoQ Growth in Revenue and Relatively Flat GM QoQ in 3Q24

Silergy Corp designs and manufactures a broad range of high performance analog integrated circuits.  The Company's products include single output step down regulators, dual output regulators, single output step by step regulators, power management ICs, step up LED backlight regulator, AC-DC LED lighting controller, DC input LED lighting drivers, LDO regulators, and protection switch

<ul>
<li>We presume Silergy is likely to see demand recovery or inventory rebuilding starting from 2Q24.</li>
<li>Silergy's wafer demand is projected to increase by 30-40% QoQ from 2Q24 onwards.  </li>
<li>Silergy's primary focus remains on China, Taiwan, and Korea, but the US market is promising for potential growth.  </li>
</ul>


We presume Silergy is likely to see demand recovery or inventory rebuilding starting from 2Q24.
Silergy's wafer demand is projected to increase by 30-40% QoQ from 2Q24 onwards.  
Silergy's primary focus remains on China, Taiwan, and Korea, but the US market is promising for potential growth.  


Silergy (6147.TT): The Wafer Demand Is Projected to Increase by 30-40% QoQ from 2Q24 Onwards.

United Microelectronics Corp / Equity Bottom-Up

United Microelectronics Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets integrated circuits (ICs) and related electronic products.  The Company's main products are consumer electronic ICs, memory ICs, personal computer peripheral ICs, and communication ICs.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/united-microelectron-sp-adr" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11540:1" rel="noopener">United Microelectron Sp Adr (UMC US)</a> 3Q24 outlook could be showing a slightly upside quarter over quarter and the gross margin is approaching to ~30%.</li>
<li>We estimate that UMC's overall utilization in 3Q24 will be around 65-70%, with 12” at 70-75% and 8” at 60%.</li>
<li>UMC is benefiting from Novatek shipping OLED DDIC to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/apple-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:666:1" rel="noopener">Apple (AAPL US)</a> in 3Q24.</li>
</ul>



United Microelectron Sp Adr (UMC US) 3Q24 outlook could be showing a slightly upside quarter over quarter and the gross margin is approaching to ~30%.
We estimate that UMC's overall utilization in 3Q24 will be around 65-70%, with 12” at 70-75% and 8” at 60%.
UMC is benefiting from Novatek shipping OLED DDIC to Apple (AAPL US) in 3Q24.


UMC (2303.TT; UMC.US): The Outlook for 3Q24 Has Reached a Slightly Upside QoQ.

MediaTek Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions. The company provides SOC system solutions for wireless communications, high-definition TV, optical storage, DVD and Blu-ray products.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mediatek-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:772:1" rel="noopener">Mediatek Inc (2454 TT)'s</a> 3Q24 is expected to experience a quarter-on-quarter increase of about 5%.  </li>
<li>MediaTek is currently developing new processors based on Arm architecture and natively supporting the Microsoft Windows operating system.</li>
<li>It is believed that MediaTek will tape out with TSMC 3nm technology, targeting the 1H25 market.</li>
</ul>



Mediatek Inc (2454 TT)'s 3Q24 is expected to experience a quarter-on-quarter increase of about 5%.  
MediaTek is currently developing new processors based on Arm architecture and natively supporting the Microsoft Windows operating system.
It is believed that MediaTek will tape out with TSMC 3nm technology, targeting the 1H25 market.


MediaTek (2454.TT): 2Q24 Guidance Is Achievable; to Take Advantage of the AI PC Replacement Trend.

Being invited, I joined Sellside, i.e. JPMorgan, Nomura and Macquarie, totally around 9-10 years. Before that, I joined International Data Corp (https://www.idc.com/) to be the Asia Semiconductor analyst for nearly 2 years, and being invited to do personal lectures in TSMC, UMC, Samsung and etc. In my working experiences, I also had the chance to join Taiwanese panel company, AUO (2409.TT) and the buyside, Chinalife (2823.TT), totally for over 1 year.
I obtained MS degree from the Tsing-Hua University. Then I worked in the Taiwan Semiconductor companies for around 11 years. I had several US patents during my stay in the Semiconductor industry.

Being worked in the sellside and buyside, I deeply dived in the Greater China Semiconductor industry and directly covered some companies, like TSMC (2330.TT, TSM.US), UMC (2303.TT, UMC.US), Vanguard (5347.TT), ASE (3711.TT, ASX.US), SPIL (merged with ASE and delisted), KYEC ( 2449.TT), JCET (600584.CH), ASMPT (522.HK), GWC (6488.TT), WinSemi (3105.TT), Mediatek (2454.TT), Silergy (6415.TT), Novatek (3034.TT), Guoxin Micro (002049.CH) etc.