Kuo: Apple will reduce purchases for 3nm chipsets in 2024

The analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, claims that the future of the smartphone chipset market appears grim. According to some recent pieces of information, Apple will cut down on its demand for the 3nm chips. Besides this, Qualcomm is also reportedly lowering its production. According to Kuo, the semiconductor industry was expected to bottom out in the second half of this year, but the downturn might last until Q2 of 2024.

ASML (Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography) is one of the major equipment suppliers worldwide. The company provides materials and equipment to several chip foundries. Through Qualcomm’s decision, the Dutch ASML is forced to reduce the EUV equipment shipment by 20–30% for next year.

According to Kuo, there are three reasons behind lower shipments. First and foremost, the demand for MacBooks and iPads has reduced after the pandemic. Customers are not switching to new devices, although the company is using new chips and small LED panels, as Cupertino reported a 30% reduction in laptop shipments (17 million overall for the fiscal year) and a 22% decline in iPad shipments (48 million).

When it comes to Qualcomm, the shipment is low due to Huawei’s plan to stop chip sourcing from the company, whether they come with 5G modems or not. On the other hand, Samsung is quite hopeful about the performance of the Exynos 2400 chips. Furthermore, the demand for 3GAP+ from Samsung and Intel’s 20A processors is quite low. According to estimates, SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron won’t release a new memory advancement until 2025-2027.