According to foreign media reports, Broadcom, one of the top suppliers of Apple chips, expects that the company's chip shipments to Apple will drop significantly this quarter.
Broadcom’s quarterly financial report released on March 15 showed that its wireless chip business grew significantly in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 (as of the end of January), and its revenue increased 88% year-on-year. In the first quarter, wireless communication revenue accounted for 41% of total revenue. The majority of Broadcom’s revenue comes from selling chips to Apple.
Hock Tan, chief executive of Broadcom, said at the company’s recently held financial report conference for the first quarter of this fiscal year, 'Wireless revenue growth in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018 was the next-generation platform demand for a North American smartphone customer. Driven by growth. 'This customer is considered to be Apple.
However, Broadcom expects that its wireless chip sales will drop significantly in the same period last year.
Chen Fuyang said that for the second quarter of fiscal year 2018 - as of the end of April, Broadcom expects that 'the seasonal decline in wireless revenue will be much greater than usual, because of the delivery to Broadcom's North American smartphone customers. Volume will drop sharply compared to the first quarter. '
The industry generally believes that this 'North American smart phone customer' is Apple. Chen Fuyang believes that Broadcom’s wireless performance in the first quarter was 'exaggerated' because the delayed launch of iPhone X squeezed chip sales into the quarter.
Broadcom said that the quarter-on-quarter decline in shipments to Apple was partially offset by the increase in shipments to Samsung Electronics. The decrease in shipments to Apple indicates a significant decrease in iPhone output and an increase in shipments to Samsung Electronics. Mainly the Samsung Galaxy S9 series smartphones.
Apple will significantly reduce the production of iPhone X, may also reduce the production of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, these two mobile phones are the same as the iPhone X.
The unit price of Apple’s current flagship iPhone is substantially higher than that of the previous iPhone 7 series, so Broadcom expects its wireless revenue to grow at a double-digit year-on-year rate this quarter.