In-depth analysis: The impact of the 311 strong earthquake in Japan on the mobile phone and tablet industry

In-depth analysis: The impact of the 311 strong earthquake in Japan on the mobile phone and tablet industry According to the latest DIGITIMES Research report, the 311 strong earthquake in Japan caused the damage to factories and equipments of the mobile phone/tablet related parts and components suppliers of the Japanese factory, or the impact of tsunami impact and local area power cuts, etc., and the operation of the plant was suspended, affecting more than 20 factories. After the disaster, it was still not working as of March 16, 2011.

Affected by the earthquake:

The main components including passive and passive components and filter related components include Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., TDK, and Renesas Electronics.

In terms of raw materials for PCBs and IC carriers, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Hitachi Chemical, Fujikura, Nippon Mektron, and others are among the others.

In terms of crystal resonators, Epson Toyocom, which produces quartz oscillators, was affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and a total of three factories stopped operations.

In terms of other components, companies including TDK, Hitachi Display, Hitachi Chemical, SMK, Sony Chemicals, and Sony Energy Device were all affected and stopped their factory operations.

Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals and Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. mainly manufacture BT resins for IC carrier board's key materials. The two companies account for approximately 90% of the total market share, and the production bases of these two companies are concentrated in Japan. If these two companies are affected by the earthquake, the production of BT resins The operation is interrupted for too long, and after several months, the IC carrier boards used in high-end models will be short-circuited, and the global smart phones and flat-panel shipments will be impacted.

Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. and Sony Chemicals Co., Ltd. use 90% of anisotropic conductive film (ACF) for TFT LCD driver ICs, and the two main manufacturers' ACF-originated factories are affected by the earthquake. The interruption will affect the supply of mobile phone/panels for a long time and there are no doubts.

Since the rest of the components can be highly replaced, or most of the factories in Japan are located in areas not affected by the earthquake in Japan and overseas, the impact on the overall mobile/tablet industry will be very limited.

In terms of related components such as active/passive components and filters, many companies including Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., TDK, and Renesas Electronics have been affected by regional power restrictions, interrupting production operations.

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. said that when Kim Sang Seisakusho's Sendai Plant cannot recover its production capacity in the short term, it will replace it with the Kanazawa office in Ishikawa Prefecture.

The factory buildings and equipment in the Takyuhou and Shonai areas have not suffered significant damage, but the factory operations have been affected by regional restrictions on electricity.

Japan Plant's impact on the overall mobile/tablet industry will be limited due to the high availability of main/passive components and filter components, or the fact that most of its factories are located in areas not affected by the earthquake in Japan and overseas.

In the mobile phone/tablet PCB, IC carrier material BT resin and other related components, including Japan's Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Hitachi Chemical, Fujikura, Nippon Mektron and other factories under the earthquake interrupted operations, stop production.

The BT resin is an important upstream material for integrated circuit (IC) carriers, and approximately 90% of the world's total market share is controlled by two companies, Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals and Hitachi Chemicals, and these two companies have production bases concentrated in Japan. Domestic manufacturers are disrupted by earthquakes and their production operations are interrupted for too long. After several months, the IC carrier boards used in high-end models will be in short supply, which will impact the global smartphone shipments.

Nippon Mektron and Fujikura are two major suppliers of soft boards from Japanese mobile phone makers, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Apple, but their manufacturing sites are spread all over Japan and their Japanese factories have major production capacity. The Japanese mobile phone factory is used for local production, so the suspension caused by strong earthquakes has little impact on other customers.

Nippon Mektron's production capacity in two factories in Ibaraki Prefecture was affected, and the Okuhara Factory was expected to recover to 70% of capacity in 3/21. The timetable for the restoration of the Kashima Plant is still unknown.

In terms of crystal resonators, Epson Toyocom, which is responsible for producing related components such as quartz oscillators, was affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and the factories stopped production.

The factory is located in the vacuum of the quartz oscillator supplier in Kanto area of ​​Tottori and Miyazaki. It is far away from the epicentre and affected by the earthquake. The factory is still operating normally.

Epson Toyocom's Fukushima office in Minami-Sama, Fukushima prefecture is located within 16 kilometers of the 1st nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

The large vacuum production facility in Japan is unaffected, while Epson Toyocom has production facilities in the United States, Thailand, Malaysia, mainland Wuxi, and Suzhou. Therefore, for the whole mobile phone/tablet industry, components such as quartz oscillators are available. The impact of this strong earthquake is very limited.

In addition to Toshiba's NAND Flash production facility in Yokkaichi, the impact of the 311 earthquake in Japan, the rest include TDK, Hitachi Display, and other mobile/panel related components such as panels, switches, memories, cells, and anisotropic conductive film (ACF). The production plants of Hitachi Chemical, SMK, Sony Chemical, and Sony Energy Device were affected by the size of the plant and equipment damaged or stopped production.

The total market share of anisotropic conductive film (ACF) for TFT LCD driver ICs manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. and Sony Chemicals Co., Ltd. is 90%, and the two main manufacturers' ACF-originated factories are affected by the earthquake. The interruption of production operations will affect the supply of mobile phone/panels for a long time.

TDK and Hitachi Display's production panel-related parts and components plants have been suspended due to the earthquake, but they are highly replaceable and have less impact on the overall industry.

Most of the touch panel factories in Japan are located in areas far away from the epicentre, such as Hiroshima and Kyoto. The impact on the supply of touch panels for mobile phones is limited.

SMK's two switch production lines are still shut down, and this component will supply North American smart phone manufacturers and will affect their shipments.

Sony's battery core plant area is damaged, but it can be replaced by other suppliers and has less impact on the overall industry.

Toshiba's Yokkaichi factory, which is responsible for the production of NAND Flash, was far away from the epicentre and had no significant impact. It was fully resumed on March 12.