Huawei is reportedly to package NAND flash memories acquired from YMTC (Yangtze Memory Technology Corp) for its smartphones, with an aim to strengthen its own chip supply chain, the Commercial Daily News reported on March 3. The company is installing equipment for its packaging facility, which is slated to begin operations in the second quarter of 2022 at the earliest. This plan aligns with China’s 14th Five-Year Plan announced last year that strives to foster IC industries in 11 provinces and cities across China. The U.S.-China trade war has prompted Chinese brands like Huawei to seek stable chip supply from domestic chipmakers, which also aggressively develop their own chips to break free from the U.S. restrictions. Despite so, Huawei smartphones’ global share still plunged in 2021. Other Chinese smartphone brands Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi have been cannibalizing Huawei’s market share over the past years. Their consolidated share in the global 5G smartphone market have grown from 10%-20% in 2020 to over 30% in 2021.
Global semiconductor market value is estimated to have grown over 25% year-on-year to US$550.9 billion in 2021 and continue strong momentum into 2022, according to MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute), a major government think tank and one of leading IT research institutes in Taiwan.