Highlights of the day: Intel stepping up preparations for 7nm manufacturing

DIGITIMES staff

Intel in May unveiled plans to launch its 7nm products in 2021, and it is now stepping up efforts towards achieving that goal. It has started placing equipment and materials orders for EUV fabrication processes since August. Meanwhile, TSMC expects 7nm and 7nm EUV manufacturing nodes to be a major growth driver this year, thanks to strong demand chiefly coming from the 5G sector. MediaTek, which reportedly is among the clients using TSMC's 7nm manufacturing node, has unveiled what it calls the world's first sub-6GHz 5G SoC, with volume production on track to begin in Janaury 2020. The handset market still has a lot to offer, as far as HannStar Display is concerned. The LCD panel supplier expects further increases in sales from the handset panel market in fourth-quarter 2019, thanks to strong demand from Chinese clients.

Intel stepping up EUV equipment, material purchases: Intel has started placing equipment and materials orders for EUV fabrication processes since August, and is stepping up its pace of orders, according to industry sources.

MediaTek on track to kick off 5G SoC volume production in 1Q20: MediaTek is on track to enter volume production of its first 5G SoC for sub-6GHz networks in January 2020, having begun sampling the chips in the third quarter of 2019, according to company CFO and spokesman David Ku.

Strong handset panel demand to boost HannStar Display sales in 4Q19: HannStar Display expects its sales for the fourth quarter of 2019 to rise sequentially, buoyed by strong demand for handset panels from Chinese vendors, according to company vice president Wu Hsu-ho.