Apple’s financials for the second quarter have been released, in which iPhone revenue sits at US$31.05 billion, an annual decrease of 17.3%. Although the decline is slightly lower than market expectations, it still indicates that short-term sales for iPhones are facing a difficult time. As pointed out by the industry, although Apple has repeatedly offered price reduction strategies to restore the trend of buying, previous models can be found with lower gross profit margins, which reduces the profits for the suppliers. In the case of weak order placement for new models and some new models from mainland being launched onto the market in sequence, the trends that some manufacturers are working aggressively to explore non-Apple orders have become most prominent, as they like to uphold their utilization rate. 

 

        According to Taiflex’s (a manufacturer of high-quality PCB material) first quarter operations, indications are that the proportion of the US demand amounts to 60%, with the mainland 30% in previous seasons. However, sales of the US-series models by new customers in the first quarter are not as good as expected, and this can be seen in the market. Demand from the US has decreased to 35%, while demand from the mainland has increased to 55%, with the other 10% as on-board. At the briefing for institute investors, Taiflex noted that shipment momentum by US customers is not as good as it was in the same period of the previous years, but momentum from the mainland models has emerged gradually. In addition, clients have shown to verify the company’s development of MPI (heterogeneous PI). It is expected that shipments will be started in sequence by June, leading to a gradual improvement in operations for the second and third quarters. 

 

        Apple amounts to a significant proportion of global PCB leader Zhen Ding’s customer base. Although the industry is not optimistic about Apple's prospects, Zhen Ding has said that it won't comment on any particular customer or product, but emphasizes that the customer base of the company remains strong and that it has actively deployed technological trends. Because of these measures, it is still optimistic about the market outlook. According to the observations of institute investors, Zhen Ding has made a significant impact on non-Apple customers, in addition to its existing US customers. At present, Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo are all partners with the company, and Zhen Ding has already accomplished a rather favorable outcome in terms of SLP with respect to plate type. Besides, benefits achieved from Rigid-Flex, COF, dashboard, multi-layer, HDI, and other product lines are expected to be witnessed this year. In addition, Zhen Ding is planning to set up a post-assembly plant in India, with mass production likely to occur next year. As viewed, the bullish operation to be followed up can be one to look forward to.  

 

       As with partners within the Apple supply chain, Flexium’s focus is placed on 5G antennas, including an MPI that has already penetrated into many markets. As for LCP (liquid crystal polymer), customers also value the high-frequency antenna material and the turnkey-solution of the antenna module. The company said that the overall stocking volume would grow by 10% in the second quarter, with a small number of new products to be shipped in June. Besides, there will also be new tablets marketed. As viewed, Flexium is considered to have successful prospects for production in terms of 5G and it is optimistic about the follow-up of the 5G-antenna market. 

 

        

Compeq believes that the current mobile phone market is still in a state of incline towards saturation, and it estimates that growth is limited. With the expectation that 5G communication technology can be added in the second half of the year, it should be able to stimulate an increase in demand with the change for new models and help restore market momentum. (News source: Commercial Times)