Fujifilm Electronic Materials Taiwan held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new facility in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan, on December 2. The event drew several prominent Fujifilm executives, including board members Tetsuya Iwasaki and Hiroshi Ito, Fujifilm Electronics Materials Taiwan chairman Kenichi Tanaka, and president Alex Chang

According to industry sources, the surprise departure of Pat Gelsinger from Intel has somewhat piqued Chinese semiconductor firms' interest in the Entity List that the US has just announced

The latest wave of export restrictions from the US on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), particularly targeting advanced technologies such as HBM2 and above, is set to compel China's memory supply chain to expedite the development of core HBM technologies. As these regulations tighten, concerns arise within the memory supply chain regarding China's current investment in HBM, which remains at a nascent stage. Poor yield rates could further impact the circulation of secondary products like DDR5, leading to market price volatility

The new US export restrictions on China do not include ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), which has sparked discussions among industry observers regarding how the key Chinese memory manufacturer is able to circumvent them

On December 3, China declared an export ban on these metals to the US, a retaliatory action following US President Joe Biden's administration's introduction of new technology restrictions targeting China

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, while competing in memory development for artificial intelligence (AI), have agreed to collaborate on accelerating technology standardization

Japanese IC substrate maker Ibiden is ramping up production capacity in response to rising demand linked to generative AI, with plans centered on renovating its current facilities to increase output

The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released a new regulation on December 2, adding 140 Chinese companies to the Entity List. This regulation targets 24 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, three categories of electronic design automation (EDA) tools, and high bandwidth memory (HBM)

China has expressed strong dissatisfaction in response to the new round of sanctions from the US. China's Ministry of Commerce issued a statement stating that the new measures further strengthen export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and memory chips, adding 136 Chinese entities to the Entity List and expanding jurisdictional reach to obstruct trade between China and third countries, characterizing it as typical economic coercion and non-market practices

Megvii Technology, one of China's original "AI Elite Four" which specializes in computer vision and deep learning, announced its application for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR) has been withdrawn

Apple is facing significant challenges in China, where its smartphone sales have been hit hard. Despite the launch of the iPhone 16 series in October 2024, the brand is under increasing pressure from domestic competitors. While Apple still managed to secure nearly 20% of China's market in October, this is a far cry from its previous dominance. Industry experts forecast that upcoming premium releases, such as Huawei's Mate 70, along with AI-driven devices from Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo, will further erode iPhone sales

The upcoming US ban targets the Chinese semiconductor industry in what is expected to be the third significant crackdown in three years. However, the number of companies affected has been reduced from an earlier estimate of 200 to 140, with HBM memory designated as a primary target of these measures

Chinese outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers have intensified their capacity expansion for advanced packaging to support the country's semiconductor self-sufficiency amid growing artificial intelligence (AI) application demands

Almost a year after the initial announcement, JCET has completed its stock-holding transfer and appointed a new chairman, solidifying control under a Chinese state-owned conglomerate. This move positions the conglomerate as the dominant force behind China's largest OSAT OSAT provider

The US government is preparing to expand restrictions on semiconductor equipment and related chip sales to China, particularly targeting AI and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) products. This move will have minimal impact on TSMC but could create new opportunities for United Microelectronics (UMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS), according to industry sources