Semiconductor Industry

[winston]

Semiconductor (N) - Sniffing out trends for 2015

The end of the year is just around the corner, and semiconductor players are aggressively preparing for next year’s battles.

Set makers need differentiation to win consumers’ hearts, and IC suppliers need to enable such differentiation through innovation and advancements in technologies and product specs.

We observed several upcoming trends in the semiconductor space for 2015. We remain Neutral on Taiwan’s fabless segment and Overweight on foundry. Our tops picks are TSMC, Parade, Novatek and UMC.

Source: CIMB

[behappyalways]

China Wants What’s in Your Phone as Chips Replace Oil
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-0 ... nance.html

[winston]

Semiconductor stocks are in a steady uptrend… sector fund SMH is up more than 25% in 2014.

[winston]

Global semicon sales up 9.1% to US$29.7b in November

KUALA LUMPUR: Global sales of semiconductors rose 9.1% to US$29.67bil in November 2014 from a year ago when sales were US$27.2bil as demand remained strong across nearly all semiconductor product categories.

The US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said on Tuesday that however, the November sales were slightly lower by 0.1% on-month from October’s US$29.68bil.

Year-to-date sales from January to November were 10% higher when compared with the previous corresponding period. However, it did not disclose the total sales from January to November.

SIA president and chief executive Brian Toohey said: “Global semiconductor sales through November have matched the total from all of 2013, assuring that the industry will achieve a new record for sales in 2014.”

“Demand remains strong across nearly all semiconductor product categories, and the Americas and Asia Pacific regional markets continue to post the most robust growth. Macroeconomic trends bode well for continued growth into 2015,” he said.

SIA said the Americas and Asia Pacific regional markets continue to show most vigorous growth. As demand remains strong across nearly all semiconductor product categories, there is a good forecast for continued growth of macroeconomic trends into 2015.

Based on the November 2014 sales of RM29.67bil – a 9.1% increase from the US$27.19bil a year ago – the Asia Pacific recorded the strongest growth in percentage terms of 12.3% to US$17.03bil, the Americas (11.1% to US$6.52bil) and Europe (3.4% to US$3.18bil) but Japan saw a 4.5% decline to US$2.93bil.

When compared with October, sales in the Americas increased by 1.8% to US$6.52bil in November from the US$6.41bil in October. However, all the other regions recorded a month-on-month declines with Japan recording the biggest fall of 2.6% to US$2.93bil from US$3.01bil.

The SIA member companies account for 80% of America’s production of semiconductors, which are microchips that control all modern electronics.

Source: The Star

[winston]

Semiconductor stocks continue to rise… sector fund SMH jumps to a fresh 52-week high

[winston]

The One “Buy” to Make to Profit From Semiconductor Mergers

BY MICHAEL A. ROBINSON

http://strategictechinvestor.com/2015/0 ... /#deeplink

[winston]

According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, global chip sales hit $83.1 billion in the first quarter. That's up 6% from the year-ago quarter – itself a boom period.

Semiconductor sales are a barometer for the entire global tech ecosystem for a simple reason.

They're integral to most of the tech products that consumers and businesses simply cannot do without – smartphones, factory robots, streaming media players, printers/scanners/copiers, personal computers, Wi-Fi Internet access, and those connected cars.

Source: Money Morning

[winston]

Chips sector slowing down

by P. ARUNA

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Busi ... ?style=biz

[winston]

not vested

Short Squeeze Stocks: Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH)

It’s not that often that we see an exchange-traded fund pop up on the Short Cover Candidates list, so we take note when it happens.

This report showed a 10% increase in short interest on the Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH), which jettisoned the short interest ratio to a near high reading for the last two years.

The additions to short interest come as the semiconductor sector is benefitting from strong fundamentals, some positive M&A activity and a strong chart, making this a great bullish contrarian play.

The Semiconductor ETF charts shows that shares are trading above their rising 50-day moving average, a quantifiably bullish trend for the shares. Topping that, the shares are now headed back toward all-time high territory, which is going to spell trouble for short sellers.

A break above $57 will likely serve as the price trigger for another covering rally for the SMH shares, with an upside target of $63.

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

3 Semiconductor Stocks Paying Big Dividends

Check-out these chip makers for big dividends

By Aaron Levitt

Source: Investor Place

http://investorplace.com/2015/12/semico ... ntDpRV96M8