On September 24, 2020, Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. announced that it has authorized Serial Microelectronics (HK) Limited, a subsidiary of SERIAL Group, to become its authorized distributor in Mainland China and Hong Kong, where it will sell Maxim's full line of components.
According to supply chain sources, due to the shortage of chips in the past year, Serial’s Maxim business did not have explosive growth, but it was considered stable and continued to rise. As of early December, more than $10 million of orders had not been delivered.
The market believes that Serial can become an authorized distributor of ADI after Maxim is acquired by ADI. However, the source told SemiMedia that Serial may lose the authorization of Maxim's products in the coming year.
"ADI is currently not interested in expanding the number of distributors, so it may cut off Serial's sales rights in Maxim products." The source said.
In addition, ADI also stated in a notice issued in October, “We have appointed Arrow as our primary global distribution partner to help expand the reach of ADI’s solution globally. This means you will have frictionless access to all of Analog Devices and former Maxim Integrated products and solutions."
If Serial loses the distribution rights of Maxim, the biggest beneficiary will be ADI's global distribution channel partner ARROW, and whether this will affect Maxim's component supply and spot market prices is still unknown.
