IC and materials distributors have reported strong revenue results for January 2021 and will experience a particularly strong first quarter this year thanks to downstream clients striving to stockpile more inventories amid the increasing chips shortages worldwide, according to industry sources.

As the pandemic has yet to ease, chips demand for remote work and study applications and other stay-at-home activities continues to ramp up significantly, driving clients to strengthen pulling in shipments of 5G, networking, cloud computing and even consumer chips solutions, in turn enabling distributors to register impressive revenue increases in January, the sources said.

Answer Technology, mainly distributing 5G/Wi-Fi 6 RF modules, video image chips and multi-media transmission chips, saw its January revenues shoot up 80.9% sequentially and 56.38% on year to a record high of NT$610 million (US$21.78 million) due mainly to clients advancing shipment pull-ins.

Semiconductor equipment and materials distributor Topco Scientific's January revenues rose 12.6% on year to NT$3.15 billion thanks to tight capacity at the entire semiconductor supply chain driving up demand for IC equipment and materials.

Specialty chemicals distributor Topco Technologies saw its January revenues rise 48.8% on year to NT$790 million, a record high for the same month, as clients demanded increased shipments of silicone materials for smartphones, wearable devices, Bluetooth earbuds and game consoles.

Consumer chips demand for 5G handsets, notebooks, tablets and desktops are expected to stay strong in the months ahead, and demand for components, logic ICs and memory chips are also turning strong, allowing distributors such as WPG Holdings, WT Microelectronics, Supreme Electronics, and Edom Technology to expect robust shipment prospects, the sources said.

By DIGITIMES