At the Asia Tech Conference, everybody was positive on the Sale of SmartPhones in Asia specifically, China followed by India and others. Overall growth within the smartphones segment remains strong, driven largely by the mid- and low-end smartphones. Mediatek sounded positive about the traction of its business as did several of the component suppliers supplying into this market. Taiwan suppliers also noted strength coming in from Samsung Electronics for components for mid-end smartphones. With Apple’s decision to not compete in the mid-priced smartphone segment (given the announced pricing of its 5C and 5S series of phones last week), we believe the deck is clear for companies like Samsung to make substantial headway into this market. It was interesting to note that a large portion of even the low- and mid-to-low end smartphones are using high-end specs—particularly in display (HD and Full HD) and cameras.
Windows / Intel Lobby – Low Expectations from the Market PCs and Wintel tablet units have been disappointing over the past year. While Intel had high hopes that Haswell would help drive units, checks from the supply chain indicate at best a flat to 5% QoQ growth in 3Q13. Speaking with OEMs/ODMs earlier on in the quarter had left us with an impression that 4Q units might pick up based on several device launches based on Intel’s Bay Trail (low powered, cheaper) platform. While it still looks likely that such devices are coming through in 4Q, enthusiasm around these devices continues to be quite modest from the supply chain and it appears that 4Q might again be at best up 5% QoQ. However, new Wintel devices are definitely going to be available at cheaper price points than has been the case earlier in the year, providing for some optimism around the category in 4Q13.