Around the web
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Apple has told some of its contract manufacturers that it wants to boost production outside China, citing Beijing's strict anti-Covid policy among other reasons, people involved in the discussions said.
Wall Street Journal
The chief executive of JSR, one of the world's largest suppliers of a material critical for semiconductor production, has said a lack of industry infrastructure will make it "very difficult" for China to develop cutting-edge chipmaking technology despite a push for self-sufficiency.
The Financial Times
TSMC is considering building a semiconductor factory in Singapore to help address a global supply shortage, according to people familiar with the matter.
Wall Street Journal
China's leading smartphone makers have told suppliers to scale back orders for the coming quarters by around 20% from previous plans following monthlong COVID lockdowns that have severely disrupted supply chains and battered consumer confidence, Nikkei Asia has learned.
Nikkei Asian Review
Chinese tech stocks slumped as weak corporate earnings coupled with a dimming global growth outlook intensified selling.
Bloomberg
The top five corporate customers were Apple, Best Buy, Deutsche Telecom, Qualcomm, and Supreme Electronics, and these big clients accounted for about 14% of the company's total sales, according to a business report released by Samsung Electronics on May 16.
BusinessKorea
Lockheed Martin has joined Intel, Nvidia, and eight other big tech companies as part of a plan to securely link defense systems in what Lockheed calls a 21st century concept.
EE Times
Samsung Electronics is talking with foundry clients about charging as much as 20% more for making semiconductors this year, joining an industry-wide push to hike prices to cover rising costs of materials and logistics.
Bloomberg
Chipmaker Micron Technology on Thursday announced it was experimenting with a new pricing model for its chips called forward pricing agreements that would aim to stabilize the steep price fluctuations that plague the industry.
Reuters
One of the most popular and iconic gadget brands in history is taking its last breath today. Apple announced that it will no longer make the iPod touch, the last device to carry the iPod name.
Ars Technica
Toyota says it will suspend operations at more production lines at its factories in Japan this month due to the coronavirus lockdown in Shanghai.
BBC News
Tesla has halted most of its production at its Shanghai plant due to problems securing parts for its electric vehicles, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, the latest in a series of difficulties for the factory.
Reuters
Infineon, the leading supplier of microchips to the auto industry, reported on Monday a 22% rise in second-quarter revenue and lifted its full-year outlook as it benefits from a global shortage of semiconductors.
Reuters
AMD shrugged off the concerns about supply-chain issues and COVID-related Chinese manufacturing shutdowns, reporting record revenue of US$5.887 billion (up 71%) for the first quarter of 2022. And while AMD's rivals expressed uncertainty regarding ongoing chip shortages as a result of COVID-related manufacturing shutdowns in China, AMD appears less worried. The topic wasn't even mentioned in the company's press release.
PC World
Shanghai is expected to open up gradually, following a brutal lockdown.
BBC News
The Biden administration is looking into claims that Yangtze Memory Technologies, a Chinese semiconductor maker, has supplied Huawei with chips, in a potential violation of US export controls.
The Financial Times
Texas Instruments tumbled in late trading Tuesday after China's ongoing Covid-19 lockdowns crimped the company's sales and profit forecasts, with the restrictions idling factories and slowing shipments.
Bloomberg
A sharp drop in graphic chip prices could presage an unexpectedly quick ending to a global chip crunch that has crippled manufacturing from smartphones to cars, and the issue will be a central one for companies reporting results this week.
Reuters
More and more car manufacturers now bet on SiC and GaN, and chipmakers are transforming their business to take advantage of the electric-vehicle market's explosive growth.
EE Times
The board of Twitter has agreed to a US$44bn takeover offer from the Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.
BBC News
Silicon Motion Technology is exploring a potential sale amid takeover interest in the semiconductor firm, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg
At first blush, ASML's numbers look disappointing. But they're actually pointing to the same challenge and opportunity TSMC outlined last week: demand is so strong that it's tough to keep up.
Bloomberg
Toyota and Volkswagen are gradually bringing their China factories back on line after they were closed for weeks because of COVID lockdowns.
CNN
TSMC said it won't start production at its 2nm node until the second half of 2025 or possibly the end of that year, which could signal a shift in the competitive landscape.
The Register
The goals don't exactly sound ambitious. For example, while TSMC plans to hit 2nm by 2026, Russia wants 28nm local chip manufacturing by 2030.
TG Daily
China's quarterly production of semiconductors shrunk for the first time since early 2019 as consumer electronics demand softened and Covid-triggered lockdowns in regions including Shanghai disrupted output.
Bloomberg
Shanghai reported a record number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases on Saturday and other areas across China tightened controls as the country kept up its "dynamic clearance" approach that aims to stamp out the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Reuters
Shipments of some Apple products, as well as Dell and Lenovo laptops are likely to face delays if China's COVID-19 lockdowns persist, analysts say, as curbs force assemblers to shut down and closed-loop arrangements get harder to maintain.
Reuters
Chinese automakers may have to halt production in May if shutdowns persist in the Shanghai area, said the chief executive officer of electric-vehicle firm Xpeng, a bleak assessment of supply-chain disruptions in the wake of Covid-19 lockdowns.
Bloomberg
Synopsys, the biggest supplier of software used to design semiconductors, is under investigation by the US Department of Commerce for possibly passing key technology to banned Chinese companies, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg
The company pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its global operations by 2040, to increase the energy efficiency and lower the carbon footprint of Intel products and platforms with specific goals, and to work with customers and industry partners to create solutions that lower the greenhouse gas footprint of the entire technology ecosystem.
Company release
China's power battery installations in March were 21.4 GWh, up 138 percent year-on-year and up 56.6 percent from February, according to data released today by the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA).
CN EV Post
According to recent comments from Toyota North America, the automaker expects to surpass the 200,000 vehicle threshold for EV sales sometime this summer, disqualifying itself from any additional tax credits in the United States under current legislation. Toyota's federal tax credits will be phased out just as the automaker plans to begin sales of its lone BEV, the bZ4X, later this year.
Electrek
The manufacturing hub of Guangzhou closed itself to most arrivals Monday as China battles a major COVID-19 surge in its big eastern cities.
AP
Ericsson said it had suspended business with customers in Russia "indefinitely," extending a halt from February that was originally billed as temporary, following sanctions imposed as a result of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Bloomberg
In late 2021, a team of Meta Platforms employees building a key chip for the second version of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses was notified that the company had decided to go with an alternative chip from Qualcomm, according to two people familiar with the matter. The custom chip would power a variety of functions, such as taking high-quality photos and videos, on the glasses. But Meta's augmented reality chief, Alex Himel, decided using it could delay the glasses' launch, expected next year.
The Information
China's President Xi Jinping has praised his country's handling of the Covid pandemic, even as Shanghai reported record case numbers.
BBC News
General Motors and Honda Motor said on Tuesday they will develop a series of lower-priced electric vehicles based on a new joint platform, producing potentially millions of cars from 2027 in a bid to beat Tesla in sales.
Reuters
Initially, there had been separate measures for the eastern and western sides, but the whole city is now subject to indefinite restrictions.
BBC News
"Intel continues to join the global community in condemning Russia's war against Ukraine and calling for a swift return to peace. Effective immediately, we have suspended all business operations in Russia. This follows our earlier decision to suspend all shipments to customers in Russia and Belarus," Intel said in a statement.
Company release
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