Mobileye receives 46m orders for new EyeQ6 chip

TSMC Q1 Earnings Beat Expectations, While Eying Up to 8% Revenue Growth in Q2

Mexico, facing US pressure, will halt incentives to Chinese EV makers

India's Smartphone Market to Grow by 15% in Q1 2024

TechInsights: Huawei Pura 70 Series Shipments Expected to Exceed 10 Million in 2024

Mobileye receives 46m orders for new EyeQ6 chip

Israeli automotive tech company Mobileye it had secured orders to ship 46 million of its EyeQ6 Lite assisted-driving chips over the next few years as automakers race to make cars safer and easier to drive, it told Reuters on Wednesday.

Mobileye did not disclose the names of the customers for EyeQ6 because it was bound by non-disclosure agreements. The company counts Volkswagen and Porsche among its customers.

The EyeQ6 Lite system is Mobileye's mass-market product for vehicles with some assisted driving features, such as automated cruise control and lane-changing, but not designed to power ones with higher levels of automation that allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road.

The chip offers 4.5 times more computing horsepower compared with its prior generation and is manufactured with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's 7-nanometer process.

The company said its more advanced assisted-driving chip, the EyeQ6 High, is set to enter volume production "early next year."

Comment: Mobileye's management stated that demand for the main EyeQ chips is improving with the inventory gradually returning to normal levels. It is estimated that sales in the first quarter of 2024 could reach 3.4 million units and are optimistic that the second quarter will at least double the first quarter's performance, boosting confidence in operations for 2024.

TSMC Q1 Earnings Beat Expectations, While Eying Up to 8% Revenue Growth in Q2

Earlier on Thursday, TSMC posted a 9% rise in first-quarter net profit that beat market expectations, boosted by strong demand for advanced chips.

TSMC saw January-March net profit rise to T$225.5 billion ($6.98 billion) from T$206.9 billion a year earlier.

In the first quarter, shipments of 3-nanometer accounted for 9% of total wafer revenue; 5-nanometer accounted for 37%; 7-nanometer accounted for 19%. Advanced technologies, defined as 7-nanometer and more advanced technologies, accounted for 65% of total wafer revenue.

Comment: For the second quarter, TSMC revealed in the financial report that, based on the current business outlook, management expects revenue to be between $19.6 billion and $20.4 billion, with a gross margin of 51% to 53%, and an operating margin of 40% to 42%.

Mexico, facing US pressure, will halt incentives to Chinese EV makers

Mexico's federal government, under pressure from the U.S., is keeping Chinese automakers at arm's length by refusing to offer such incentives as low-cost public land or tax cuts for investment in EV production, three Mexican officials familiar with the matter told Reuters. 

The sources attributed the move to U.S. government pressure, specifically from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), to keep Chinese automakers out of the free trade zone established under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Comment: About 20 Chinese automakers now sell cars in Mexico but none yet have a plant in the country. Chinese vehicles constitute about a third of the total brand offerings in Mexico.

India's Smartphone Market to Grow by 15% in Q1 2024

The latest Canalys research shows the Indian smartphone market maintained its strong performance in Q1 2024, reaching 35.3 million units. Vendors entered 2024 with an improved inventory situation, which allowed channels to embrace multiple new offerings launched during the quarter. The market saw a 15% year-on-year growth, owing to the lower base of Q1 2023, which faced inflationary pressures, weak demand, and stockpile issues.

“While most brands achieved double-digit growth in Q1, brands outside the top 5 continue to challenge the market share of leading players,” said Canalys Senior Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia.

Comment: As operational pressure increases due to rising component costs, prices are expected to continue to rise, although import tariffs on some components have been reduced. Localization is becoming increasingly important in India's smartphone ecosystem.

TechInsights: Huawei Pura 70 Series Shipments Expected to Exceed 10 Million in 2024

Research institution TechInsights published an article stating that the Huawei Mate 60 Pro series (including Mate 60 Pro, Mate 60, Mate 60 Pro+, and Mate 60 RS Ultimate) saw shipments of 6.2 million units in China within five months (August to December 2023). The analyst expects the Huawei Pura 70 series to sell over 10 million units in 2024.

The institution forecasts that Huawei's smartphone sales will beat 50 million units in China in 2024, with a market share increasing significantly from 12% in 2023 to 19% in 2024, reclaiming the top position in the Chinese market. Although the Pura 70 series is expected to be hardly introduced in overseas markets this year, Huawei is estimated to jump to the top 8 in the smartphone market globally, with a 5% market share.

Comment: Huawei's strong comeback in China's smartphone market will pressure Apple's iPhone. In Q1 2024, Apple's iPhone experienced a double-digit year-over-year decline in China's smartphone market. The publication of the Pura 70 series will intensify competition between Apple and Huawei in China, the world's largest smartphone market.