Taiwanese IC design houses have mixed feelings about good sales of the new iPhone series, which could limit sales for 5G Android phones in the short term, according to industry sources.

Strong iPhone sales will only benefit a small portion of Taiwan's IC design sector that offer only fast charging and other peripheral chips for Apple's smartphones. But other core internal or external chips solutions are beyond their reach, the sources said.

The designers are in pole position to supply mobile SoCs, modem chips, TDDI chips and other 3D sensor chips for Chinese handset vendors, but they are worried that sales of new 5G handsets from the Android camp could be dented by strong demand for new iPhones in the short term, the sources said.

But the penetration of 5G handsets is expected to surge in 2021, as strong sales of the new iPhones should drive replacement demand for 5G models worldwide in the longer term, the sources added.

By DIGITIMES