Pandemic curbs Infineon‘s flight of fancy
Infineon’s sales reached €2.7 billion “The demand for semiconductors is unbroken, they are the key to the energy transition and digitalisation. This is contrasted by a supply situation that remains very tight,” said Infineon CEO Reinhard Ploss. “Inventories are at an all-time low, and our chips are going from production directly into end applications.” Ploss went on to say that the company is currently having its products virtually snatched out of its hands. “Inventories are at an all-time low, our chips are going from manufacturing directly into end-use applications,” Ploss said.
Nevertheless, Infineon remained below its means. This is because the Infineon plant in Melaka, Malaysia, which is responsible for testing and packaging in the group’s value chain, was at times unable to use its full capacity because of the Corona pandemic. What would have been possible in this quarter, in which the entire semiconductor industry is producing and selling at full speed, is shown by the recently published quarterly figures of NXP and STMicroelectronics: the two competitors were able to increase their sales by more than 40% each. So Ploss had no choice but to vow improvement. “We are doing our utmost at all stages of the value chain and are acting as flexibly as possible for the benefit of our customers. In addition, we are continuously providing additional capacities,” said the CEO.
The ATV (automotive) division, Infineon’s strongest segment in terms of sales, was also hit by the restrictions in manufacturing. Car manufacturers are currently desperately seeking sources of supply for semiconductor components; tens of thousands of vehicles cannot be built because the chips are missing. However, Infineon was not able to benefit from this situation; sales of automotive components fell by 1 percent in the quarter under review compared to the previous quarter to €1.2 billion. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, however, sales rose by 49 percent, which is probably mainly due to the consolidation of Cypress into the figures.
The equally important PSS (Power & Sensor Systems) segment even had to accept a decline in turnover of 4% to €757 million compared to the previous quarter. On the other hand, the Industrial Power Control (+14%) and Connected Secure Systems (+5%) segments were able to grow.
In any case, Infineon is cautiously positive for the coming quarter and expects revenues to increase by about 6.5% to €2.9 billion. “With continued demand momentum, the overall supply situation remains tight, also due to the pandemic-related manufacturing constraints in Melaka, Malaysia at the beginning of the quarter,” the Infineon report states. Overall, however, the pandemic will make forecasting difficult due to inconsistencies in the course of the vaccination campaigns and infection rates.
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