Handset brands including Samsung Electronics, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo have stepped up their purchases of IC parts as they aim to take over the smartphone market share relinquished by Huawei in the wake of the US trade sanctions, according to sources from Taiwan-based IC suppliers.

Aggregated quarterly orders for LCD driver ICs placed by Android phone makers have exceeded the quarterly shipments of related chips shipped to Huawei previously, said the sources.

Some ambient light sensor suppliers also revealed that China's handset vendors are building their inventories for such chips aggressively as they are trying to expand their market share at the domestic and overseas markets at the expense of Huawei.

Most IC suppliers believe that a great portion of current IC orders for handset applications involves double bookings by handset brands in light of tight capacity at foundry houses.

Android phone makers may face the risk of severe inventory adjustment should they fail to ramp up their market share as expected, said the sources, indicating that such inventory adjustments may come in mid-February 2021 right after the Lunar New Year holidays.

By DIGITIMES