Edgewater Research: Electronics Supply Chain Weekly Digest - May 6
Dennis Reed
|  Created: May 6, 2024
 | 
Updated: July 1, 2024
Welcome to Edgewater Research's weekly summary of key trends, survey results, and industry insights. Here, you’ll find updates on manufacturing data, component distribution, and reports from various market sectors.
Data Point of the Week
- US Manufacturing PMI: S&P Global reported a decline to 50.0 in April, indicating a reversal from the recent 3-month improvement trend. The ISM report was even more cautious, with a PMI of 49.2, suggesting a renewed downturn.
- Eurozone Manufacturing PMI: Dropped to a 4-month low of 45.7, primarily driven by weaker export demand. However, sentiment improved for the second consecutive month.
- China Manufacturing PMI:
- S&P/Caixin: Reached a 14-month high at 51.4, driven by stronger export orders.
- Official PMI: Fell slightly to 50.4, signaling continued growth but a slowdown in momentum.
Market Headlines
Automotive
- BYD: Projects a 20% increase in 2024 shipments despite facing slower Q1 profit growth due to intense price competition. The company aims to double exports to 500,000 units while reporting strong growth in April, with overall shipments up 49% and PHEV shipments up 69%.
- Mercedes-Benz: Commits to avoiding pricing wars and anticipates Q1 shipments as a trough for 2024.
- Tesla: Laid off EV charging unit leadership but secured government approval for driver assistance services in China.
- Polestar: Delays its Q4 results for a second time.
- Stellantis: Reports a 10% decrease in Q1 shipments and lower-than-expected profits due to unfavorable product mix and costs.
Industrial
- 3M: Beat profit estimates due to higher electronics demand.
IP&E (Interconnect, Passive, and Electromechanical)
- Murata: Predicts 4% growth in the next 12 months, with improving orders and B2B relationships.
Datacenter
- Major US cloud service providers saw accelerating growth in Q1, driven by rising AI demand.
Semiconductors
- AMD: Achieved in-line results while raising CY24 AI revenue expectations to $4B.
- ASE: Plans to build a new advanced packaging factory in Japan.
- NXP: Forecasts stable demand and double-digit sales growth in 2H due to channel replenishment.
- onsemi: Predicts an L-shaped recovery in 2H, noting slight softening in 2Q demand but emphasizing gains in SiC.
- Skyworks: Projects a weak Q2 outlook due to slower-than-expected recovery in smartphone demand.
- Qualcomm: Reports strong results with positive demand for high-end smartphone chips.
- Wolfspeed: Missed projections due to a slowdown in EV demand.
- SEMI: Global wafer shipments dropped 5.4% Q/Q in Q1.
- ST Micro & SiCrystal: Extend a long-term agreement for SiC wafer supply.
- Vanguard: Expects customer inventory to normalize by 2H24.
Other
- Arrow & Avnet: Forecast revenue drops in the West due to continued inventory correction, while noting improvement in IP&E and APAC stabilization.
- Apple: Reports better-than-expected results despite a 10% decline in iPhone demand.
- Canalys: Global smartphone shipments increased by 10% Y/Y in Q1.