International e-commerce news on the 22nd, entering the second quarter of 2021, the shortage of MCUs has not improved. Since Elan and Songhan announced price increases in February and stopped accepting new/long-term orders, it has been reported that the orders for some products of Holtek in 2021 have been filled, and the prices of all products will increase by 15% after April 1. news. Just on (April 21), Holtek issued a notice saying that it will suspend orders from now on...

Suspended orders for 2022, and is expected to resume orders in mid-May

Holtek stated in a notice issued to agents and customers at all levels that orders due in 2022 will be suspended from today. In this regard, Holtek made a brief explanation:

1. Wafer factories and packaging factories have notified that there will be another wave of price increases in the near future, with a price increase of 15%-30%;

2. It is expected that in early May, the fab will provide the number of wafers produced in 2022, and the 2022 order-taking rules will be announced after confirmation;

3. It is expected to resume accepting orders for 2022 before mid-May;

4. For orders that have received a deposit in 2022, the delivery date will be re-arranged according to the number of pieces produced;

5. After the orders are filled in 2022, the order will be suspended;

6. Orders will be delivered in 2023. It is expected that in May 2022, the fab will provide 2023 production capacity before opening orders.

In fact, as early as the fourth quarter of 2020, Holtek has raised some products with lower gross profit margins by 10%, and some orders have been postponed until 2022. Holtek's price increase plan for all MCU products on April 1 this year is the company's first comprehensive increase in product lines in its history.

According to public information, HOLTEK's main products are mainly 8-bit and 32-bit MCUs, covering touch control, health measurement, industrial control/instrumentation, computer peripherals, home appliances, automotive and safety monitoring and other application areas. According to Holtek's 2020 financial report, the company's total revenue was 5.615 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 22.5%, gross profit margin dropped to 46.2%, and net profit was 1.031 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.7%. It is understood that Holtek's MCU shipments increased by 28% compared with last year's 833 million units, and MCU performance accounted for 78% of the total performance.

Many MCU manufacturers stopped taking orders/increasing prices

According to "International Electronic Business", due to the continuous shortage of 8-inch wafer foundries, the demand for MCUs is still strong, resulting in rising prices. Since the fourth quarter of 2020, many Taiwan-based MCU manufacturers have taken the lead in announcing price increases/stop taking orders, including Holtek, Lingtong, Songhan, Hongkang, Nuvoton, etc.

· Elan suspends orders and raises prices twice

On January 1, 2021, Elan, a major Taiwanese MCU manufacturer, has officially raised the price of MCU products by less than 10%. Then, in late February, Elan Chairman Ye Yixuan said that due to the consideration of the company's product planning, orders for MCU products will be suspended after the year (after the Spring Festival), and the cumulative price increase will start at least 10%.

By April 12, due to the continuous tightening of wafer foundry, packaging and testing capacity, resulting in rising production costs, Elan made a second price increase, with an average increase of about 15%.

· Songhan has raised prices twice, and will not accept long orders

Another MCU factory, Songhan, has successively increased its quotations to customers since the fourth quarter of 2020. By the beginning of 2021, Songhan has made an increase for almost all products. In late February, news from the supply chain came out that Songhan had already launched a second wave of price adjustments for some customers. Even if it was a long-term order from a customer, Songhan would not necessarily accept it.

·Lingtong has been raised twice

As early as November last year, Lingtong has successively issued price increase letters to customers, but customer demand continues to be strong, and the overall order visibility can be seen through the first half of 2021. In 2021, the price of MCU will continue to rise, and Lingtong will increase the price of the product twice in February and March, and the increase and frequency of each product line will vary.

· Nuvoton MCU price increase

In the fourth quarter of last year, it was rumored in the industry that Nuvoton would gradually increase the price of MCUs. On February 19, Dai Shangyi, general manager of Nuvoton, confirmed the rumors of Nuvoton's price increase for the first time. He said that due to the tight production capacity of wafer foundry and packaging and testing terminals, in order to reflect the rising cost, the price of MCU has been gradually increased since the fourth quarter of last year. And make adjustments according to each product line. In 2021, Nuvoton has already strived for more production capacity. It is expected that the shortage of production capacity in the first and second quarters will gradually improve, but it is still unable to meet the needs of all customers.

Mainland MCU makers raise prices again

It is worth noting that following the announcement of the second price increase by Taiwan-based MCU manufacturers, mainland MCU manufacturers have also begun to follow suit.

Recently, a number of mainland MCU manufacturers have once again announced to adjust product prices. In mid-March, Zhaoyi Innovation revealed that under the drastic fluctuations in the market, the company will continue to make price adjustments. Subsequently, Smart Microelectronics and Rockchip successively announced that the prices of chip products have been raised to varying degrees since April 1 to reflect market conditions. By April, domestic MCU manufacturers such as Renajie Semiconductor, Minsi Microelectronics, Huimang Microelectronics, and Chipsea also announced price increases again.