On May 15th, Gizcoupon reported that despite a 14.3% year-on-year decrease in sales in April, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) still gained favor among institutional investors due to the successive arrival of large orders from Nvidia and Apple. The new iPhone 15/Pro series launch will boost performance for TSMC and other supply chain companies in H2 2023.
Market performance of iPhone 15/Pro series
According to Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, the new iPhone 15/Pro series is unaffected by the mobile phone market downturn. The initial stock volume is maintained at last year’s high level, ranging from 85 million to 90 million units.
Sources revealed that Apple had instructed suppliers to start stocking up on iPhone 15/Pro series components. They include material suppliers from Japan and South Korea, as well as major packaging and testing companies that have received pre-assembly requirements. Meanwhile, TSMC is steadily increasing its monthly output of 3nm chips.
Market expectations suggest that the high-end Pro version of the new iPhone 15 series will feature the latest A17 chip. In addition, TSMC’s 3nm process will be used for production, making it the largest source of orders for TSMC’s 3nm technology at present. Other models will continue to use the existing A16 chip, which TSMC’s 4nm process will manufacture.
However, it was reported by Taiwanese media last year that TSMC’s 3nm foundry fee was as high as $20,000. Moreover, there have been frequent reports in recent months that Apple is the only customer for TSMC’s 3nm process. Due to the significant increase in foundry costs, the Pro series of the new models may experience a price hike.
Counterpoint Research’s latest forecast shows that Apple’s iPhone market share in the US grew from 48% to 53% in Q1 this year. The increase is despite external factors like inflation. Apple is expected to be the only smartphone brand in the world with growing shipment volumes this year. The total shipment volume of iPhones is expected to increase by 4% year-on-year, outperforming the global industry’s decline of 2%.