Benefiting from its High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) business, SK Hynix has experienced substantial revenue growth and forecasts a doubling of shipments in 2024. Regarding recent concerns about an "AI bubble" and "HBM oversupply," SK Hynix maintains an optimistic outlook.
As governments worldwide push for sovereign AI, Taiwan, a key provider of AI hardware, is rapidly expanding its AI ecosystem with the help of both public and private sectors.
The world's top-3 memory chipmakers are likely to reduce their NAND flash memory capex in 2024, following two years of robust spending, according to industry sources.
Samsung Electronics is aggressively targeting Compute Express Link (CXL), a highly anticipated next-generation memory technology. The CXL market is expected to take off in the second half of 2024 and boom in 2028. Samsung plans to mass-produce 256GB CMM-D products by the end of 2024.
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.
As the number of DRAM stacks in high bandwidth memory (HBM) increases, there will be new developments in Through-Silicon Via (TSV) materials, focus rings and debonding technology used in this field. Memory manufacturers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are reportedly collaborating with partners to develop these next-generation solutions.
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.
SK Hynix has reported revenue hit an all-time high of KRW16.42 trillion (US$11.8 billion) in the second quarter of 2024, when operating profits topped KRW5 trillion for the first time in six years.
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.
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.
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.
Although initial demand for HPC and AI smartphone chips is expected to remain strong as the traditional peak season approaches, recent observations indicate potentially lower-than-expected momentum in the consumer electronics sector, with most chip demand concentrated in cloud AI applications.
Korean media reports said Samsung Electronics's 4-generation high bandwidth memory product (HBM3) has been validated and has started mass production. However, industry sources only said both its HBM3 and HBM3E are still going through the validation processes.
A senior executive from a leading China-based NAND flash provider expressed optimism about the explosive growth potential of the Chinese semiconductor market, attributing this surge to the impact of US sanctions.
NAND Flash memory suppliers are gearing up for robust demand driven by AI smartphones in the third quarter. Some sources suggest that production lines may already be experiencing supply shortages.
Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) has filed a lawsuit against Micron Technology in the US, accusing the American memory vendor of infringing its 3D NAND patents in a range of products.
Since Donald Trump has openly requested "protection fees" from Taiwan, various interpretations have emerged to gauge the attitude of the United States towards Taiwan's role in the global semiconductor industry. Local industry experts commented that if Trump made a public statement asking for money to commit to Taiwan's protection, it should be interpreted positively.
To strengthen semiconductor production capabilities across the Western Hemisphere, the U.S. Department of State, in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), has unveiled the CHIPS ITSI Western Hemisphere Semiconductor Initiative.
Micron Technology has disclosed that it is currently conducting sampling of its Multiplexed Rank Dual Inline Memory Modules (MRDIMM) for memory-intensive applications, including AI and HPC.
Samsung Electronics is reportedly adjusting its investment pace and postponing the construction of the wafer foundry line at its Pyeongtaek Plant 4 (P4) due to difficulties in securing major foundry customers.
As the AI era unfolds, the demand for memory solutions that maximize performance while minimizing power consumption is growing exponentially. Samsung Electronics is reportedly developing next-generation memory solutions, including vertically stacked 4F square structure DRAM and 3D DRAM, to meet these evolving needs.
