German chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor adjusted its full-year revenue expectations downward by 5 percent after learning that Apple planned to reduce the share of main power management chips (PMICs) it sources from Dialog for its 2018 smartphone platform. Apple will source PMICs from two suppliers instead of just from Dialog for one of its three new iPhone models this year. It’s the first time Dialog’s custom PMICs will be dual sourced, said Dialog. The company said in a statement it still expects to see revenue growth in 2018, with revenue performance “strongly weighted” towards the second half of the year.
Order values for Dialog’s sub-PMIC in the 2018 smartphone platform as well as other PMICs for tablets, wearables and notebooks remain unchanged, they added. Dialog said it would continue to explore “new mixed signal opportunities” outside PMICs for Apple products.
The change in strategy means Apple will order 30 percent fewer of these chips from Dialog this year than the company had originally expected, wrote Reuters. The company has lost more than half its stock value over the past year over investor concerns that Apple is developing its own battery-saving chips for iPhones.In a conference call, Dialog CEO Jalal Bagherli said Apple had provided neither a reason for the change in its sourcing nor the identity of the second supplier. Because Dialog is qualified for all three iPhone models, Baghleri said the decision wasn’t the result of a “performance-related issue”, but might rather be an attempt by Apple to “reduce risk” and have an alternative supplier on hand.
