(AOF) – Texas Instruments has announced that it will increase its quarterly cash dividend by 8%, from $1.15 per share to $1.24, or $4.96 per year. This higher dividend will be payable on November 15, 2022 to shareholders of record on October 31, 2022. The semiconductor maker’s board also authorized the company to repurchase an additional $15 billion of its shares. This sum is in addition to the approximately $8.2 billion in previously authorized redemptions that remained at the end of June 2022.
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Growing market and price pressures
According to the SIA, global chip sales were $151.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022, up 23% year-on-year. Sales increased in all major regional markets and for all product categories. As global uncertainties, including the war in Ukraine and the health crisis, weigh on supply chains, demand for semiconductors continues to significantly outpace supply. Manufacturers Samsung and TSMC have announced that they will raise their prices, in a context where players in the sector have good leeway and benefit from increased bargaining power. However, wage increases and component prices could weigh on future performance.
The Threat of Open Technology, RAN
Equipment manufacturers will have to face this threat in the next few years. This new architecture consists in replacing the traditional antennas by software allowing more interoperability thanks to the cloud. Telecom operators will thus be able to reinforce innovation and increase their choice of suppliers. They will also be able to have access to more services and flexibility for network deployment and management costs which should decrease. For the moment, none of the major operators has switched to this new technology. Nevertheless, the freedom of choice of suppliers is a decisive element, underlined by the decision of Europe and the United States to sanction the Chinese Huawei for national security reasons.
Growth of the French market in value
According to the Gfk institute, the sector generated sales of 4.8 billion euros in 2021, up 2% compared to 2020. The product families that benefited from the best performance are in particular helmets and accessories as well as televisions. However, while the French consumer electronics market grew in value last year, it fell in terms of volumes (-2% with 51 million units sold). This trend can be explained by a move upmarket in products: Bluetooth speakers are more powerful or even television sets use more innovative technologies. Thus the development of technologies that improve image resolution (Oled, Qled, miniled) and the size of screens have caused an increase of more than 20% in the average price. Consumers are also looking for more sustainable products.