Highlights of the day: NOR flash supply could be disrupted by US trade sanctions

The US is reportedly mulling imposing sanctions on China's largest pure-play foundry house, SMIC. Such a move could severely disrupt supply of NOR flash, as one of the the world's biggest suppliers for the memory, GigaDevice, relies heavily on the Chinese foundry house. SMIC may suffer as a result of US sanctions, but Taiwanese foundries see bright prospects, with their utilization rates expected to stay high through year-end 2020. Taiwanese IC designers are also queueing up for capacity support from the foundry houses.

US ban on SMIC may result in severe shortages of NOR flash: A US ban on China's pure-play foundry SMIC, a supplier to GigaDevice, might lead to severe shortages of NOR flash memory, according to Macronix International chairman Miin Wu.

Taiwan foundries see bright prospects ahead: Pure-play foundries including TSMC, UMC and VIS are poised to see their fab capacities continue being fully utilized through the end of 2020, according to industry sources.

Taiwan IC design houses striving for foundry support: Taiwan-based IC design houses are striving for capacity at foundry partners whose support will be crucial for their sales performance in fourth-quarter 2020 and first-half 2021, according to industry sources.