Marvell Technology表示，半导体行业可能需要整整一年的时间从全球IC短缺中反弹，而全球IC短缺开始，而从冠状病毒中收回的需求比预期的要快。
"The supply chain was not completely prepared for the surge in demand and it also needs time to increase capacity," Marvell CEO Matt Murphy said in a conference call with investors and analysts last month. "While we are confident that the [chip] industry will respond to these challenges, we anticipate a supply gap for at least through fiscal 2022" that ends in January 2022, he warned.
“Lead times have extended across the board,” he added. At the foundry level, it is struggling with constraints in in some of the technology nodes it uses in its products for 5G and data centers.
The Santa Clara, California-based company sells networking switch chips that are used to connect cloud servers and corporate data centers, where it competes with Broadcom over market share. It also sells 5G baseband modems to telecom equipment giants such as Nokia and Samsung. It also works with the auto industry, making chips used to connect electronic subsystems in cars.
迈威尔公司表示,其在第四季度的销售2021, which ended in January, jumped by 10% to $798 million, buoyed by increasing 5G and cllud demand in its networking chip business.
Most of the world's top semiconductor firms are completely—or for the most part—fabless. That includes Marvell, which outsources all its IC production to TSMC and other contract chip makers. But as demand for cars, consumer electronics, and other chip-heavy hardware has soared over the last year, these foundries have been fully loaded with orders. That has ravaged the global supply chain for chips used by companies ranging from Apple and Sony to GM, Ford, and Volkswagen.
这不仅加剧了芯片的短缺，不仅在最先进的铸造节点上，而且加剧了诸如90纳米米和180纳米级等旧节点的短缺。短缺还破坏了全球筹码供应链的其他部分。在生产过程中使用的空白硅供应有限，用于组装，测试和包装的较长交货时间。
墨菲说：“我们正在采取非凡的措施，包括在比较长的时间内提前确保能力。”他补充说，它还与客户更紧密地合作以预测未来需求水平。“我们正在与客户合作，以帮助他们吸收与优先级供应相关的一些增量成本。”
Marvell has partnered with TSMC on the development of a series of server chips based on TSMC's industry-leading 5-nanometer node, which has been largely used in 5G smartphones thus far. The deal gives Marvell a guaranteed supply of advanced logic chips for data centers and 5G networks starting in late 2021. The deal also places Marvell in the upper echelons of TSMC's customer base.
The company anticipates its strong growth to continue in the first quarter of 2021, with sales projected to grow around 15% year over year to $800 million, despite ongoing supply shortages.
Marvell的首席执行官说：“我们对5G，云和汽车产品的需求增加似乎与这些最终市场中存在的长期世俗增长驱动因素紧密相关。”“这加上我们大多数设计胜利的唯一源性本质，表明我们在短期内无法满足的大多数需求是不可腐烂的。”
