Don't know if this triggered the move:
Taiwan GaAs supply chain to log robust 5G PA shipments in 2H20
Julian Ho, Taipei; Willis Ke, DIGITIMES Monday 20 July 2020 0
Taiwan's GaAs foundry houses Win Semiconductors and Advanced Wireless Semiconductor (AWSC) and epi-wafer supplier Visual Photonics Epitaxy (VPEC) are set to enjoy robust PA (power amplifiers) demand for 5G handsets in the second half of the year as TSMC has revised upward its 5G smartphone penetration forecast for 2020 to near 20%, according to industry sources.
Six-inch GaAs process will remain the mainstream foundry technology for handset-use 5G PA devices, and Win Semi, a major partner for Broadcom, is expected to see revenue contribution ratio for 5G PA foundry exceed 20% in 2020 along with the rising penetration of 5G handsets, the sources said, adding that each 5G smartphone will require 2-5 more PAs than 4G.
VPEC has landed eip-wafer orders from Win Semi and IDMs Qorvo and Skyworks for 5G and Wi-Fi 6 applications, and will also continue to benefit from increasing demand for RF and PA applications, the sources said.
AWSC, now mainly engaged in 4G PA devices, is expected to start small-volume production for 5G PA components in the second half of 2020.
Meanwhile, Apple has applied ToF sensors to its new iPad Pro series and will do so to new iPhones, with Win Semi as the main foundry of VCSEL chips needed as light source for the sensors, the sources said. And the DOE (diffractive optical element) devices required to support Apple's "direct ToF" technology are now being processed by TSMC's backend affiliates Xintec and VisEra, the sources added.