In 2012, Apple launched a suite of extremely interesting products and expanded its base of collaborators who produce iDevice components, and in the first part of 2013 we will have some surprises. Straight from Asia we find out that TSMC, the company that should produce quad-core processors for Apple, is preparing for an increase in the number of orders in April and March, all based on the possible launch of a new iPad tablet and perhaps a new iPhone model.
Apple's suppliers, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and packager Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) which have entered the vendor's supply chain, are all expected to report particularly strong results for the first quarter of 2013, market observers believe. Apple is expected to introduce its next-generation iPad and iPhone series around the middle of 2013, which will boost demand for ICs in particular communications related chips during the latter half of the first quarter, according to the observers.
For now, there is only talk of an increase in orders for iDevice processors, and since we are talking about TSMC, there is a possibility that a completely new processor will be launched together with the iPad 5. Although there is talk of the launch of a new model of the iPhone, I think that only in the fall we will be able to buy iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 or whatever name Apple will choose to assign to its future smartphone.
Component orders placed by Apple, which climbed to high levels prior to the iPhone 5 rollout, will rise again between March and April, the observers indicated. TSMC's overall utilization rate, for instance, is set to contract in January and February due to a slowdown in customer orders, the observers said. However, the utilization rate will pick up and grow substantially in March.
