After reporting a 25% year-on-year revenue decline in the second quarter, STMicroelectronics has revised its sales outlook for 2024 downward for the second time.
OSAT ASE Technology Holding (ASEH) has stated its enthusiasm for "Foundry 2.0," a novel concept that is designed to transform the foundry industry, which was recently announced by TSMC.
The Japanese government is taking significant steps to support Rapidus in its efforts to become a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing. This includes providing financial support, developing specific policies, and potentially enacting new legislation to ensure a stable domestic semiconductor supply chain.
Chinese foundries have prioritized orders from domestic customers, resulting in limited availability of fab capacity for others particularly Taiwan-based ones targeting the Chinese market, according to industry sources.
Although China is still a long way from meeting international standards in the field of semiconductor equipment, it is entirely feasible for the country to achieve technologically advanced levels within the next five to 10 years, according to Gerald Yin, CEO of China's leading semiconductor equipment maker Advanced Micro-fabrication Equipment (AMEC).
The semiconductor industry, traditionally operating at the nanometer scale, is now pushing the boundary toward the even tinier "angstrom" scale (one-tenth of a nanometer) with an innovative team at Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) having crafted self-assembled equipment to achieve this unprecedented precision.
In a forum hosted by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Keiju, KCCI Chairman and SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won told participants that Nvidia's dominance in the AI business is unlikely to be shaken in 2-3 years. Still, the Silicon Valley company may face a round of challenges after the period as companies have yet to find profitable business models for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Some uncertainties might challenge Nvidia's leadership status.
According to data from the Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry, from April 2021 to June 2024, there have been 100 new semiconductor-related investments announced or reported, covering areas such as semiconductor materials and logistics. Among these, TSMC's investment in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, stands out as the largest.
A high official of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has recently urged Mexico to significantly increase investment in its semiconductor industry over the next two years to maintain its competitiveness against neighboring countries for the US' nearshoring opportunities.
Nexchip is expanding into photomask production, aiming to achieve mass production by the fourth quarter. This move positions Nexchip as a full-service foundry, similar to TSMC and SMIC, and highlights the indigenization efforts of China-based chipmakers.
Due to the AI-driven surge in demand for semiconductor equipment, KLA reported better-than-expected financial results. The company expects to benefit from investments in advanced manufacturing by chipmakers and is optimistic about the growth in advanced packaging, particularly driven by HBM technology.
With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) proposing its Foundry 2.0 model, some industry experts compare it with Intel's IDM 2.0. However, the challenges Intel faces today also reflect the inconvenient truth: everyone sees the benefit of market competition by having Intel compete with TSMC in providing foundry services, but are they truly competing?
Samsung and SK Hynix plan to invest KRW360 trillion (US$259.2 billion) and KRW120 trillion, respectively, to build 10 semiconductor fabs in Yongin, South Korea, making it the world's largest advanced semiconductor cluster. However, recent reports suggest that the Yongin cluster development plan may be disrupted due to insufficient power supply.
TSMC is expected to break ground on its new wafer fab in Germany around the end of 2024, with volume production to begin by the end of 2027, according to sources at semiconductor equipment makers.
Observers believe that US President Joe Biden's decision to forgo his re-election bid will undoubtedly boost Donald Trump's chances of returning to the White House. This could likely lead to a continuation of Trump's tough stance on China, potentially accelerating the reorganization of global supply chains and the deployment of regional production bases. Such developments may benefit Taiwan's struggling machinery industry.
Chen Nanxiang, chairman of Chinese memory company Yangtze Memory Technology Corp (YMTC), recently said during an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that he expects to see explosive growth in the semiconductor industry over the next 3-5 years.
Intel has confirmed that part of its European investment project has been shelved due to economic reasons, highlighting the chipmaker's challenges in its foundry business, which relies significantly on internal rather than external customers.
Onsemi has announced a landmark supply agreement with Volkswagen (VW) - the world's second-largest automaker - to provide a complete power box solution for its next-generation electric vehicles (EVs).
Inspur, a Chinese server manufacturer, recently denied a Reuters report, stating it has no collaboration with Nvidia on designing a B20 AI chip based on the Blackwell architecture to meet U.S. export control requirements. The company asserts that the media report was unfounded.
Powertech Technology (PTI) is currently developing fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) and seeking collaboration with fabless chip vendors, according to the Taiwan-based memory and logic IC backend house.
With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) chairman C. C. Wei promising to carry through overseas expansion plans regardless of the next US President, those securing TSMC's production capacities in its Arizona fab will gain some peace of mind amid uncertainties of a renewed tariff war threatened by Donald Trump.
