Demand for TSMC's advanced process support has been strong. The foundry is set to move the 3nm node to volume production in 2022, with monthly output expected to reach 100,000 wafers in 2023. It remains to be seen whether Huawei - banished by the US from large parts of the IT world - could receive capacity support from TSMC again. Handset retailers in China are raising prices for Huawei smartphones that are powered by the vendor's in-house-developed, TSMC-made Kirin chips, expecting them to be out of stock soon. Meanwhile, memory module firms expect demand to pick up during fourth-quarter shopping season, but falling DRAM and NAND prices will continue to heap pressure on their profitability. TSMC to ramp up 3nm chip production starting 2H22: TSMC is on track to enter 3nm chip production with monthly output set to reach 55,000 wafers in the second half of 2022, according to sources familiar with the matter. The 3nm process output will climb further to 100,000 units in 2023.Huawei Kirin-powered smartphone prices hiking in China: Retail channel operators for Huawei's smartphones in China are hiking prices of the vendor's models powered by HiSilicon's Kirin chips that are expected to become obsolete in the wake of the US sanctions against the Chinese tech giant, according to industry sources.Memory module firms expect demand to pick up in 4Q20: Memory module makers expect end-market demand to pick up substantially in the fourth quarter of 2020, driven by e-commerce operators' year-end promotions.

TSMC is fast advancing its manufacturing processes, and it has already disclosed a plan to build a 2nm fab in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan. And if demand is strong, it may have to expand a central Taiwan fab to house more 2nm capacity, according to the foundry house's chairman. TSMC is also fast expanding its IC packaging capacity, with plans to opne two new packaging fabs in the next two years. The semiconductor is embracing opportunities in the era of 5G and AI, which Micron believes will drive memory market growth in the next decade.TSMC may expand factory site in central Taiwan for 2nm process: TSMC may expand its factory site in Taichung, central Taiwan for additional 2nm process capacity, according to company chairman Mark Liu.TSMC to open new packaging fabs in 2021-22 using 3D Fabric platform: TSMC has been stepping up the development of its advanced packaging business, with plans to open in 2021-2022 two new fabs dedicated to advanced packaging incorporating its newly unveiled 3D Fabric wafer level system integration technology platform, according to industry sources.AI and 5G to drive memory market growth over next decade, says Micron: The emerging artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G technologies are set to generate unprecedented opportunities and productivity, which will be driving the memory market growth over the next 10 years, according to Micron Technology EVP of global operations Manish Bhatia.

Acer has disclosed it has worked with National Taiwan University Hospital to develop AI-based software to help doctors diagnose diabetic retinopathy, with the software becoming the first ophthalmological intellectual property licensed by Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration.Acer has worked with the hospital's departments of ophthalmology and internal medicine to develop the software since 2017, using 50,000 retinal images from abroad to train an AI-based diagnostic model for interpreting retinopathy. The model has then been adjusted for improvement using 10,000 retinal images of diabetes patients treated by the hospital. Interpretation by the model can reach an accuracy rate of 95%, the same level as interpretation by ophthalmologist.A major complication of diabetes, retinopathy is likely to cause blindness, according to a physician with the hospital. There are an estimated 2.2 million diabetics in Taiwan currently, and as the number of doctors is insufficient as compared with that of diabetics, the AI-based software is expected to greatly help doctors screen out retinopathy from diabetics.The hospital established in February 2020 a smart medical center, which is developing AI-based diagnostic models for interpreting mammary tumors and aortic calcification, said the hospital's superintendent Wu Ming-shiang.The AI-based software will soon be introduced to hospitals and clinics in Taiwan for clinical trials.Smart medical care is a key to transformation of Taiwan's ITC industries, Acer founder Stan Shih indicated, adding the AI-based software will be promoted in overseas markets.

The best entry to telemedicine is to choose a chronic disease, such as sleep disorders, and set up a service platform and ecosystem that can be gradually expanded, according to Rex Cherng, co-founder and COO of US-based telehealth solution provider TelePlus Healthcare.There are five elements for telemedicine: Analysis, diagnosis, therapy, monitoring and medical care, and they are crucial to running sustainable business models, Cherng said.To establish a complete and extensible telemedicine platform and ecosystem, it is necessary to make a distinction between telemedicine and telehealth as well as between the concepts of patient-centered and patient-centric, Cherng pointed out.Telemedicine refers to therapy using various methods of remote treatment including tele-care, tele-surgery, tele-education, tele-consultation, tele-monitoring and tele-prescription, whereas telehealth means long-term use of tele-medical methods to keep improving health, and this is necessary for chronic diseases, Cherng explained."Patient-centered" means that the medical staff make therapeutic decisions, and patients, with their needs and preference being respected, are persuaded to accept the decisions, Cherng said. "Patient-centric" means personalized medicine where various monitoring methods are used to collect data from individual patients and the data are combined with corresponding medical records to customize therapeutic procedures and patient management platforms, Cherng noted, adding it is characterized by interaction between the patients and medical staff, with the latter keeping modifying therapeutic procedures based on monitoring results.TelePlus has developed a 5-step personalized precision sleep and chronic disease platform, a sleep medical solution based on the concepts of telehealth and patient-centric, Cherng indicated. The platform is actually an online virtual sleep medical center that is available for free use by hospitals and clinics, letting them do without setting up their own, Cherng said.

The intensifying US-China tensions are driving Beijing to accelerate its push for semiconductor self-sufficiency. China's 14th 5-year plan running 2021-2025 will focus its IC industry development on third-generation semiconductors such as GaN and SiC. For the semiconductor market, the lingering pandemic has not prevented it from growing, and the chipmaking equipment and materials market has a rosy outlook next year. But in the lackluster handset market, PCB suppliers are expecting much this year. They expect limited ASP growth in 2020, as PCB specs for flagship smartphones have not seen major upgrades.China revving up to develop 3rd-gen IC materials, quantum computers: China will be stepping up the development of its homegrown third-generation semiconductor materials and quantum computers in the next 5-10 years seeking to fully wean itself off US influence in the next-generation segments, according to industry sources.Semiconductor market set for growth in 2021: Despite the prevailing pandemic-induced economic uncertainty, the global semiconductor market is poised for growth in 2021, according to SEMI.Handset PCB makers see limited room for ASP growth in 2020: PCB makers are cautious about their ASP growth this year due to insignificant specs upgrades in flagship smartphones rolled out by their China-based clients, according to industry sources.

Supply of 8-inch foundry capacity has been tight, with delivery lead time extending to three to four months. Rush orders placed with 8-inch foundries are expected to face an increase of 10% in quotes in fourth-quarter 2020. In turn, IC vendors may have to raise their prices to reflect he rising costs from foundry services. Prices for notebook-use power management ICs are likely to rise. In China, its semiconductor sector's push for self-sufficiency continues, but the progress may not be as fast as expected. Its memory startup YMTC is increasing output slowly, as it takes time for it to improve yield rates.Eight-inch foundry quotes set to rise: Taiwan-based 8-inch foundries will raise their quotes for short lead-time orders by about 10% in the fourth quarter to reflect their extremely tight supply, according to industry sources.Notebook power IC prices poised to hike on tight foundry capacity: Taiwanese IC designers are likely to raise their quotes for power management ICs and MOSFETs for notebooks, desktop PCs and servers to reflect increased costs resulting from tight capacity at 8-inch wafer fabs, according to industry sources.Yangtze Memory slowly increasing NAND chip output, sources claim: China's memory startup Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) will be ramping its NAND chip output slowly, according to industry sources.

Wistron Medical Technology, an affiliate of the Wistron Group, sees good progress in medical product developments and expects its medical solutions to drive up the company's sales in 2021, according to company president Donald Hwang.Wistron Medical has partnered with Canada-based B-Temia to develop the Keeogo walking assistance device, which has already obtained certifications and begun selling in Taiwan, the US, the EU, Malaysia and Singapore, Hwang noted.Keeogo features patented technologies using sensors to detect the angles of users' knee joints to predict their moves, Hwang said.The device is currently being certified by the China, South Korea and Thailand governments, and will be available in more markets in 2021, Hwang said.In Taiwan, Wistron Medical is keenly promoting the device to local hospitals and nursing homes, Hwang said.Wistron Medical is also developing external inspection and smart medical care applications. The company is set to unveil a smart exoskeleton solution and a device for hand rehabilitation by year-end 2020, Hwang noted.The company's external inspection solutions, including mobile handheld devices and lab equipment, have already been adopted by five clients so far, Hwang said.Wistron Medical is still in the red due to the high expenses spent on certifications.Wistron Medical president Donald HwangPhoto: Michael Lee, Digitimes file photo

TSMC's has disclosed that its 3nm process will continue to adopt a FinFET structure, but the foundry reportedly will take a new approach to its 2nm chip development, replacing FinFET with GAA transistors. Meanwhile, strong demand for high-performance CPU, GPU, AI and networking chips has booked up production capacity at Taiwanese ABF substrate makers throughout first-half 2021. Surging demand for Chromebooks in support of remote learning has created shortages soem key components, and revived orders for HDDs.TSMC 2nm GAA process development ahead of schedule: TSMC's development of 2nm process technology, which is already out of its pathfinding mode, is ahead of schedule, according to industry sources.Taiwan ABF substrate capacity fully booked throughout 1H21: Taiwan-based Unimicron, Nan Ya PCB and Kinsus Interconnect Technology have seen their ABF substrate capacities fully booked throughout the first half of 2021 thanks to strong demand for processing high-performance CPU, GPU, AI and networking chips, according to industry sources.HDD demand picking up thanks to surging Chromebook orders: Robust demand for Chromebooks from the education segment has not only led to shortages of entry-level processors and LCD panels, but also spurred demand for hard disc drives (HDDs), according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Nvidia's GPU and AI solutions have seen strong demand from the datacenter market segment, and its acquisition of Arm should help complement the business.The acquisition of Arm is expected to facilitate Nividia's integration of its GPU and CPU technologies. In the medium- to long-term, the move is expected to help Nvidia expand into large-size cloud datacenter and edge computing server markets.Arm only has a limited share in the server CPU market at the moment, but is starting to obtain orders for cloud datacenter, high-performance computing and edge computing applications. As the architecture is having strong potential in cloud and edge computing products, combining the CPU technology with Nvidia's leadership in AI server development would make the GPU giant's new CPU platform rather competitive in AI-related businesses, Digitimes Research believes.Nvidia could also combine its GPU technologies with the CPU platform to further enhance their instruction set architecture and AI acceleration software library to develop competitive server solutions.

Machine tool maker Fair Friend Group (FFG) and Tunghai University's Industrial Smart-Transformation Center (ISTC) have jointly launched an initiative seeking to turn Taiwan into a global hub of smart supply chains, according to ISTC CEO Huang Chi-yuan.Global supply chains are being reshuffled in the wake of the US-China trade tensions and coronavirus pandemic, Huang said.Taiwan, with its comprehensive IT supply chains, excellent medical services, strong manufacturing capabilities, and geographical proximity to China, India and Southeast Asia, stands a good chance of becoming a global hub of smart supply chains, Huang noted.Different from smart manufacturing, smart supply chains link supply chain makers around the world, Huang indicated. The Re!Chain initiative aims to create a global management and coordinating center in Taiwan to link manufacturing resources around the world using cloud computing, AI, big data and IoT technologies, Huang explained.Re!Chain will also seek to help Taiwanese industries transform toward smart operations and establish international links through cross-region and cross-domain alliances, Huang noted.Re!Chain has several strategic and technological partners, including WPG Holdings, Teco Electric & Machinery, ShareHope Medicine, Ernst & Young Taiwan, Merry Electronics, CRIS, Fusion$360, and United Financial Intelligence.