When the semiconductor industry might reach “equilibrium” between supply and demand “seems to be the question that everyone is asking,” Bill Betz, NXP Semiconductor chief financial officer, told a J.P. Morgan investors conference in Boston Tuesday. NXP sees chip supply “incrementally improving” in 2022's second half “but not solving that demand gap that we have,” he said. “If we take out all of the double ordering and triple ordering” that’s prevalent in the supply chain, NXP estimates it’s “still not servicing about 20% of that demand as we go forward,” said Betz. “It’s going to take quite a while to get to equilibrium, and not in 2022, for sure.” NXP “would love to be at 2.4 months” of channel inventory, said the CFO. “Today, we’re at 1.6, 1.5.” To get from 1.5 to 2.4, NXP would need to ship $500 million worth of inventory “into the channel and assume none of it sells through,” he said. “So we have a long way to go to get it back to 2.4.” That’s one “of those leading indicators to understand how much of your demand is really real,” he said. “This is one of our clear indications that we’re far from making or getting to equilibrium.”

“Robust” semiconductor and electronics market demand helped Synopsis to a 25% revenue increase to $1.28 billion in its fiscal Q2 ended April 30, said CEO Aart de Geus on an earnings call Wednesday. In consumer and business applications, “the need for electronics and chips is relentless,” he said. “We’ve seen growing demand, not only from our traditional semi and systems customers, but also from impactful new entrants such as hyperscalers, a mounting number of startups and nontraditional systems companies across vertical markets.” Despite “macroeconomic choppiness” in an uncertain geopolitical environment, “these companies are investing heavily in highly complex chips,” said the CEO.

Sales of QuickLogic’s display bridge products remain strong “as global supply chains remain challenged,” said CEO Brian Faith on an earnings call Tuesday for fiscal Q1 ended April 3. The company supplies field-programmable gate array chips for the iPhone that bridge mutually incompatible display interface standards embedded in the device. “These supply issues, while a negative for the industry, have been a positive for us as the constraints have created a worldwide shortage of certain display bridge semiconductor solutions,” said Faith. “One area where supply chain issues are slowing development and production is with our primary mobile phone customer.” Though QuickLogic continues to have new designs ready for market, “the supply disruptions are making it more difficult for our customer to build their product,” said the CEO. “This was reflected by lower shipments in the first quarter that we believe will persist in the second quarter.” Apple didn’t respond Wednesday to requests for comment. QuickLogic typically doesn’t experience “the same level of constraints” plaguing the “broader” semiconductor industry, said Faith. “Our sticking point is in the assembly and test part of the supply chain. Capacity is staying tight, and in order to get the access required, we continue to increase our committed inventory for finished goods to help ease supply concerns.”

Q1 revenue at Tower Semiconductor grew 21% year over year to $421 million, and its operating profit soared 94% to $63 million, reported the Israeli chipmaker Monday. Amid Intel’s proposed $5.4 billion Tower buy, Tower dispensed with giving Q2 guidance and didn’t host an earnings call. Intel’s intent is to “fully merge” Intel Foundry Services and Tower into a “single foundry business” when the deal is complete in early 2023, said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, announcing the transaction in mid-February (see 2202150038).

Navitas Semiconductor is working closely with Motorola on “a comprehensive co-op marketing campaign” to promote the embedding of a Navitas gallium-nitride (GaN) fast charger in the Motorola Edge+ smartphone, said CEO Gene Sheridan on a Q1 earnings call Thursday. The 68-watt fast charger has 1 watt per cubic centimeter of power density and is capable of “a 0% to 50% charge time” in 15 minutes, he said. The Motorola Edge+, which retails for $899.99, is the only handset that works on Dish Network’s 5G service that launched commercially in Las Vegas on May 4 (see 2205040057). Navitas is enduring some “short-term turbulence,” specifically in China, “given the COVID-related shutdowns and some softness in the Chinese smartphone market,” said Sheridan. “These two factors, in combination with some continued non-GaN component shortages, are expected to have some impact on our growth rate in Q2.” Sheridan announced on the call that sustainability company Natural Capital Partners named Navitas as the world’s first semiconductor maker to achieve carbon-neutral status.

Q1 revenue at China’s largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., increased 66.9% year over year to $1.84 billion and was up 16.6% sequentially from Q4, reported the company Thursday. It’s projecting only a 1%-3% quarter-on-quarter increase in Q2, citing the COVID-19 pandemic “and local conflicts occurring overseas” that have brought “uncertainties to the development of the global IC industry.” The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security added SMIC to its entity list in December 2020.

Wireless telecom “has escaped the worst effects” of the global semiconductor shortage, and chips for cellular infrastructure equipment “will continue to dodge significant shortages going forward,” reported Strategy Analytics Monday. SA expects availability of chips for Wi-Fi access points and smartphones “will continue to improve through next year,” it said. “Tight supplies of semiconductors will gradually ease through the remainder of 2022 into 2023 as new foundry capacity comes online,” said SA analyst Christopher Taylor. China increased its production of semiconductors by more than 17% in 2021, “and production expansion in China will accelerate this year, helping to ease the global shortage,” said Taylor. Semiconductor investments in the U.S., EU, South. Korea, India and other countries “have also started to bear fruit, with the most significant capacity expansions due to start in 2023,” he said.

Qorvo more than doubled its revenue year over year at Samsung, with growth across multiple product categories, said CEO Bob Bruggeworth on an earnings call Wednesday for fiscal Q4 ended April 2. Qorvo supplies Wi-Fi 6E modules, antenna control, RF power management chips and other components for Samsung’s “mass-tier and flagship 5G smartphone programs,” he said. Qorvo in previous years had been “underrepresented” at Samsung, but now “the combined opportunity extends for years,” he said. Qorvo’s “customer diversification in mobile” affords the company “an expanding set of opportunities as 5G continues to grow,” he said. In support of the Matter connectivity protocol for smart home, “we expanded customer engagements with retail and service providers to integrate Matter into Wi-Fi gateways,” said the CEO. “Matter is an open and universal smart home protocol expected to simplify and accelerate the adoption of seamless and reliable wireless connectivity.”

The Senate was still voting Wednesday afternoon on 28 motions to instruct a conference committee charged with marrying elements of the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act (HR-4521) and Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260), including two aimed at maintaining language aimed at strengthening U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. HR-4521 and S-1260 both include $52 billion in subsidies to encourage U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturing (see 2201260062). The Senate approved by voice vote a motion from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to instruct conferees to "insist" a final measure bar federal funds from being "used for gain-of-function research conducted in China." Other motions up for votes later Wednesday included one from Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., to insist the final bill "include incentives to support investments" in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, including "investments in the fabrication, assembly, testing, advanced packaging" and R&D of chips. A motion from Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., aims for the bill to "strengthen" supply chain resilience and security, including provisions that "reinvigorate" U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. Language from Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., seeks inclusion of a provision directing the White House Office of Management and Budget to "develop guidance for executive agencies requiring adequate security measures for any transfer, storage or use of digital yuan," China's currency, "on information technology."

GlobalFoundries signed a $117 million deal to provide DOD with a “strategic supply” of U.S.-made semiconductors “critical to national security systems,” said the chipmaker Monday. The chips will be produced “securely” at GF’s Fab 8 in Malta, New York, its “most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility,” it said. The agreement "will strengthen the domestic microelectronics industrial base, as part of the nation's effort to sustain its semiconductor manufacturing capability necessary for national and economic security,” said DOD.