By the end of the first quarter of 2024, Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML had a backlog of orders totaling EUR 38 billion (US$ 41.4 billion). This means that ASML needs EUR 4-6 billion in new orders each quarter to meet the upper limit of its projected 2025 sales, which are expected to reach between EUR 30-40 billion.
Thanks to improving demands in the smartphone and notebook markets, Japanese passive component suppliers are likely to raise inductor prices. However, Taiwanese suppliers believe these price hikes will be modest.
Acer made a bold move by partnering with India-based Indkal Technologies to re-enter the smartphone market. Acer's strategic focus is on harnessing India's potential rather than solely concentrating on the highly competitive smartphone market.
LG Display (LGD) is in the process of selling its 8.5-generation LCD factory in Guangzhou, China, where TCL CSOT has reportedly offered a higher bid than BOE. If LGD successfully sold its Guangzhou factory it could improve LGD's performance in the second half of 2024 and accelerate investment in 8.6-generation OLED production lines for IT devices.
Samsung Electronics has announced that its latest LPDDR5X DRAM has been verified for use in MediaTek's upcoming Dimensity 9400, according to an official statement and a report from Newsis. This new DRAM offers key benefits for smartphones, including improved battery life and faster on-device AI processing.
Belgian-based microelectronics solutions provider Melexis has inaugurated its new factory in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. This facility, now Melexis' largest wafer testing plant, represents an investment of approximately EUR 70 million ($76 million).
China's aggressive automotive exports caught the world's attention, hitting a record high in the first half of 2024 but starting to slow down after tariffs imposed by Europe and the United States. However, few have noticed that China's semiconductor exports growth and dollar amount during the first half of the year both exceeded that of automotive exports.
In less than a year after forming an IC design subsidiary, India-based infrastructure and engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) bagged orders for SoCs for surveillance systems.
Hoping to get the 140,000 talents needed for industrial development by 2030, Taiwan's Chip-based Industrial Innovation (CbI) Program is actively attracting international students from Southeast Asia and Central/Eastern Europe to come for internships in Taiwan.
With trade barriers from Europe and the US against Chinese solar imports, the Middle East, which is currently moving toward clean energy transformation and enjoys good trade relationships with China, has emerged as a crucial outlet for China's solar capacity expansion.
Global sales of Electric Vehicles (EVs) are expected to surpass 10 million units in 2024, marking a crucial automotive market milestone and reaffirming a healthy growth trajectory.
Sharp's large-size LCD panel factory, Sakai Display Product (SDP), located in Osaka, Japan, is set to close by the end of September 2024. Sharp has offered an early retirement plan for the factory's employees, affecting approximately 500 people.
Nvidia continues to introduce downgraded versions of its AI and gaming GPUs for the Chinese market, which remains important to the US chip vendor, according to industry sources. New solutions customized for the Chinese market are expected to be released in the first quarter of 2025.
A top Dutch technical university that is a key feeder for ASML Holding NV talent has been caught in the crosshairs of the US-China chip war as Washington seeks to limit Beijing's ability to produce semiconductors.
