The IC sector is spurred by demands related to IoT businesses and 4G LTE technologies, but it is also dragged down by the below-expectation sales of PCs and mobile devices. On the whole, the sector’s revenue performance has been slightly disappointing so far this year.
At the start of this year, the United States Department of Commerce conducted a preliminary review of the anti-dumping and countervailing (AD/CVD) measures against Chinese photovoltaic (PV) cell imports for 2012 and reduced the overall tariff rate from 30% to 17.5%. Consequently, advantages are lost for Taiwanese cell manufacturers facing tariff rates between 11.45% and 27.55%. Cell prices since then have also seen a steady decline.
Traditional memory module manufacturers are currently facing challenges in shipping memory cards and flash drives, according to the latest analysis by DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. These products, which are major sources of revenue for these companies, are struggling the market due to the rise of cloud storage services and the increasing emphasis on high-density flash storage design that is driven by Apple’s iPhones.