Taiwan-based IC design houses remain upbeat about their sales growth in the third quarter of 2021, despite a recent cutback in orders from the notebook sector, according to industry sources.

Most notebook clients are revising their shipment targets for 2021 following a review of their sales performance in the first half of the year and their inventory levels, said the sources.

Some first-tier IC providers said they are not surprised about the order reductions, noting that is a reasonable correction in response to the overbooking that clients implemented in the first half.

The IC vendors also believe that ICs will remain a seller's market through year-end 2021, given tight production capacity at most foundry houses.

They noted that the actual capacity ramps at foundry houses will be limited this year to about 20%, which will not be able to satisfy a 2- or 3-fold upsurge in chip orders.

As foundry houses are still prioritizing automotive chips, the shortages of related IC parts for notebook applications in the end market will last to the end of 2021 and IC vendors will continue to see their sales gain momentum in the third quarter, said the sources.

By DIGITIMES