TSMC, MediaTek to Hire More Than 10,000 Staff in 2022

choi

Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauli Li, TSMC, MediaTek to Hire More Than 10,000 Staff in 2022; Taiwan companies confront global onshoring push as chip crunch persists. Nikkei Asia, Jan
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business ... 0-000-staff-in-2022

Note: Nikkei Asia allows one free view per month.
(a) "MediaTek, the world's top mobile chip developer by shipments"
(i)
(A) MediaTek, Inc overtook Qualcomm, Inc  in mobile chip (also known as smartphone chipset) for the first time in 3Q20 (third quarter, 2020), and the lead has since widened in 3Q21 (the latest available), according to Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research. Global smartphone AP (Application Processor)/SoC (System on Chip) shipment market share for top 6 in 3Q21 was MediaTek (40%) > Qualcomm (27%) > Apple (15%) > UNISOC (19%) > Samsung (5%) > Huawei's HiSilicon (2%) == as reported by several market researchers, including Counterpoint Research.

MediaTek's top three customers for mobile chips are Xiaomi, Oppo and Samsung (in that order).

That is shipment. There is no data in the Web about revenues from mobile chips alone (as opposed to the total revenue of the companies at issue). It is conceivable that MediaTek's mobile chips have been cheaper than Qualcomm's and indeed that is the case.
(B) UNISOC 紫光展锐 (formerly Spreadtrum Communications, Inc 展讯通信有限公司)
(ii) Jay Liu and Willis Ke, MediaTek on track to see revenue top US$20 billion in 2022. DigiTimes, Jan 12, 2022.
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20220112PD205.html
("MediaTek, which saw its revenue climb 53.2% on year to a record high of NT$493.415 billion (US$17.81 billion) in 2021, is on track to see its revenue top US$20 billion this year, according to market sources")

The quotation is paragraph 1. The rest of the content is locked behind paywall.
(iii) Press release: 3Q21 Revenue of Global Top 10 IC Design (Fabless) Companies Reach US$33.7 billion, Four Taiwanese Companies Make List, Says TrendForce. TrendForce, Dec 16, 2022
https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20211216-11059.html
("In terms of Taiwanese companies, MediaTek continues to expand its global 5G rollout * * * Novatek * * * In addition, Realtek's revenue surpassed Xilinx to take the eighth position due to higher priced Netcom chips [because they were out of stock] in 3Q21. Himax * * * ")
(A) Novatek Microelectronics Corp 聯詠科技股份有限公司 (1997- ; headquarters Hsinchu Science Park; 現 "屬於聯華電子 [United Microelectronics Corp (UMC)] 集團的成員之一 * * * 原為聯華電子設計部門之一": zh.wikipedia.org for 聯詠科技; "聯詠科技目前是全球平面顯示螢幕驅動IC領導廠商": Novatek's Chinese-language website)
(B) Realtek Semiconductor Corp (1987- ; headquarters Hsinchu Science Park)
• Netcom chips is shortened from "Ethernet network control" chips (from the Web) or "network control communications 網路控制通信" (國家教育研究院 雙語詞彙, Taiwan).
(C) Himax Technologies, Inc 奇景光電股份有限公司 (2001- ; based in Tainan; Nasdaq: HIMX; "專注於影像顯示處理技術之IC設計公司。本公司係全球顯示器驅動IC與時序控制IC領先廠商，產品應用於電視、筆記型電腦、桌上型電腦、手機、平板電腦、數位相機、汽車導航、虛擬實境裝置": company website)
• 驅動IC  driver IC "is a circuit  * * * used to control another circuit or component, such as a high-power transistor, liquid crystal display (LCD) [through] regulat[ing] current flowing through a [second] circuit"  en.woiipedia.org for "driver circuit."
   ^ display driver
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_driver
   ("is usually a semiconductor integrated circuit * * * which provides an interface function between a microprocessor, microcontroller, ASIC or general-purpose peripheral interface and a particular type of display device, e.g. LCD, LED, OLED")
• 時序控制器  timing controller


(b) "Taiwan boasts the world's second-largest semiconductor economy by revenue after the US, and over several decades it has built up a complete and mature chip cluster on its western coast. The largest European chip equipment maker, ASML, plans to hire some 1,000 people in Taiwan this year, after it hired 1,400 last year, making for a team of 3,800 employees on the island. Leading chip material makers Merck and Entegris are building new production facilities in Taiwan and also plan to hire more people locally this year."
(i) On Nov 4, 2021 Taiwan's (政府捐助之)財團法人 工業技術研究院 (工研院) 預估，2021年台灣半導體產業產值 [output] 將 * * * 達到4.1兆元.  NT$ 4.1 trillion is $149 billion (today's exchange rate is $1 = NT$27.55). The nominal GDP for Taiwan (according to foreign exchange rate) is estimated to be $759 billion. S$149 billion is slightly higher than one sixth of Taiwan's GDP.   
(ii)
(A) I fail to find the output ranking for semiconductors. However, earlier today I was puzzled by semiconductor "sales" data that showed China has been No 2 for a few years , after the US. See, eg,
• Figure 4 in
Semiconductors: US Industry, Global Competition, and Federal Policy. Congressional Research Service, October 26, 2020/
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46581
• China's Share of Global Chip Sales Now Surpasses Taiwan's, Closing in on Europe's and Japan's. Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), Jan 10, 2022 (blog)
https://www.semiconductors.org/c ... n-europe-and-japan/
("Just five years ago, China's semiconductor device sales were $13 billion, accounting for only 3.8% of global chip sales. In 2020, however, the Chinese semiconductor industry registered an unprecedented annual growth rate of 30.6% to reach $39.8 billion in total annual sales, according to an SIA analysis [1]") (brackets original).   Its Reference 1 said in toto, "SIA applied a bottom-up methodology based on the public financials, IPO and bond prospectuses, and government official reports of over 120 top Chinese semiconductor firms. With a more comprehensive dataset, the SIA Chinese industry size estimation is different from those of other market analysts."
(B) Then I found
Minoru Nogimori. Growing Tension around Taiwan and Higher Risks in Semiconductor Industry; If semiconductor supply is suspended, global GDP could decline by USD 800 billion per year. JRI Research Journal (published by Japan Research Institute, Limited 株式会社日本総合研究所 (privately owned), where the economist 野木森 稔 is 主任研究員), vol 4 No 7  page 1, Aug 26, 2021
https://www.jri.co.jp/en/MediaLi ... 21/07/nogimori2.pdf
(page 3: "The share of Taiwanese semiconductor sales (including foundries1) has risen to 25% of the global market," whose footnote 1 stated in tot: "In many cases, semiconductor sales do not include foundries that contract only for manufacturing from semiconductor manufacturers, but in
this case, the ratio is calculated in such a way in order to measure the size of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry. As of 2019, 20% of the wafer fabrication capacity for semiconductor manufacturing worldwide was in Taiwan (see SIA/BCG [2021]). (brackets original) )
Its reference included
• Antonio Vargas, Raj Varadarajan, Jimmy Goodrich and Falan Vinug, Strengthening the Global Semiconductor Supply Chain in an Uncertain Era. BCG/SIA, April 2021
, which did not seem to say this out.
• The Japanese verb 稔る (pronunciation: minoru) means "[plant] to bear fruit."

(c) "To protect Taiwan's position in the chip supply chain, and address concerns of a talent crunch, the island recently opened four new semiconductor graduate schools at its top four universities."

All happened in the second half of 2021L "4家國立大學正式設立 [半導體] 研究學院，包括成功大學於2021年10月22日成立智慧半導體及永續製造學院、陽明交通大學12月21日設立產學創新研究學院、台灣大學12月24日成立重點科技研究學院，以及清華大學半導體研究學院27日也正式揭牌。" from the Web.