Taiwan 5G optical component shipments remain bullish despite bans on Huawei

Taiwan-based optical component suppliers so far have not seen their short-term shipments being affected by the US government’s fresh trade restrictions on Huawei, believing prospects to remain positive in second-half 2020 as Chinese telecom operators are still accelerating construction of 5G base stations.

China’s telecom operators are currently striving to build more than 10,000 5G base stations a week in order to make up the shortfalls caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the first quarter, Miao Wei, China’s minister of industry and information technology (MIIT) said recently.

Taiwan-based VCSEL maker TrueLight revealed that it has experienced significant shipment growth for its 10G products in the second quarter, bolstered partly by deferred shipments by clients from a quarter earlier, adding that 10G products for long wavelength base station applications now account for about 70% of its optical component shipments.

TrueLight has also begun shipping 25G devices in the second quarter, with related shipments to be ramped up starting the third quarter, the company said.

But TrueLight also noted that its shipments of VCSEL components for TWS earbuds suffered a sequential decline of 20-30% in the first quarter in the wake of the pandemic impact and expects the related shipments to pick up again in the third quarter with total volumes to the sector in 2020 to stay on par with those shipped a year earlier.

LandMark Optoelectronics, a specialist for epitaxial wafers and VCSEL components, said its current shipments of 5G components are almost lagging behind demand by 50%, prompting it to accelerate its capacity expansion project.

Upon the completion of its expanded backend facilities in June, the company’s optical component capacity for 5G applications will be doubled, the company said, adding that a follow-up move-in of new MOCVD machines will add another 15-20% to its capacity.

—Digitimes