Industry News

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is considering building a third plant in Japan that would make advanced 3-nanometer chips, people familiar with the matter said, potentially turning the East Asian nation into a major global chipmaking hub.

The go-to chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc has told its supply chain partners it is mulling construction of a third factory, code-named TSMC Fab-23 Phase 3, in the southern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not public.

In a strategic move, Samsung Electronics is expanding its facility in Taylor, Texas, with the addition of a substantial 2.7 million square foot building. The decision comes as part of the company's recent foray into AI chip manufacturing deals, set to be executed at the Taylor site currently under construction.

This expansion coincides with speculation about Samsung's deferred additional investment of US$8 billion for the plant, now slated for the latter part of 2024. This delay reportedly hints at a pivot towards advancing the cutting-edge 3-nanometer manufacturing process.

Today, Resonac Corporation (President: Hidehito Takahashi, hereinafter “Resonac") announces that it plans to establish a research and development center for semiconductor packaging technologies and semiconductor materials in Silicon Valley, California, the USA. Resonac has started to investigate, select, and prepare facilities to be installed in the new R&D center.

While the global semiconductor market is projected to exceed US$1 trillion by 2030, the evolution of AI technologies, including Generative AI which has been rapidly expanding throughout this year, is accelerating. Many cutting-edge semiconductor technologies supporting this trend have originated from Silicon Valley, where prominent US semiconductor manufacturers, such as Intel and NVIDIA, are concentrated. Additionally, in recent years, GAFAM*, which deploy cloud services including Generative AI services, are known to develop AI semiconductors optimized for their own services.

BALTIMORE — Today, the Biden-Harris administration announced its vision to boost U.S. capabilities for advanced packaging, a key technology for manufacturing state-of-the-art semiconductors. In remarks at Morgan State University, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Director Laurie E. Locascio laid out how the U.S. will benefit from the Department of Commerce CHIPS for America program’s manufacturing incentives and research and development efforts. In particular, approximately $3 billion in funding for the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program will be used to drive U.S. leadership in advanced packaging. An initial funding opportunity for this program is expected to be announced in early 2024. Supporting innovation and keeping the U.S. at the forefront of new research is a critical part of the president’s Investing in America agenda.

How is AI going to impact the business of making chips? A panel of semiconductor-company veterans tackled that question last week at Silicon Catalyst’s annual Semi Industry Forum, held in Menlo Park, Calif., on 9 November. The group speculated about how and when AI will upend the way chips are designed and just how strange a place the coming “AI wonderland” will turn out to be. (Silicon Catalyst is a startup accelerator focused on semiconductor companies.)

“We are entering an era of electronic design creation,” said AMD senior vice president Ivo Bolsens. He predicted that AI will soon be able to flesh out most of a chip’s design from high-level specifications. However, he indicated, AI won’t be able to cover the last mile in the foreseeable future.

The initial optimism surrounding microLED technology in 2017, with expectations of commercialization by 2020-2021, has given way to a more extended timeline. Meaningful production volumes are now predicted to be achievable in the next 2-3 years, with widespread consumer adoption potentially taking 5-10 years.

China’s smartphone market is signalling a recovery with the first four weeks of October growing on average 11% YoY according to Counterpoint Research’s latest Smartphone 360 Weekly Tracker. Huawei has been the standout brand, accounting for the bulk of net adds share over the period.

“Whether it’s YoY or more short-term WoW, the numbers are suggesting a recovery. There’s some momentum building to be sure,” observes Mengmeng Zhang, senior analyst for China. “This is auspicious as we head into reporting season for the 11.11 sales period.”

MILPITAS, Calif. – November 13, 2023 – The global semiconductor manufacturing industry is on track for recovery in the fourth quarter of 2023, setting the stage for continued growth in 2024, SEMI announced today in its Q3 2023 publication of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Monitor (SMM) Report, prepared in partnership with TechInsights.

Electronic sales are predicted to register a robust 22% quarter-over-quarter increase in Q4 2023, adding to 7% growth posted in Q3 2023. IC sales are expected to rise 4% sequentially after improving 7% in Q3 2023 as end demand improves and inventories normalize.

Rockwell Automation has completed its acquisition of Verve Industrial Protection, an asset inventory system and vulnerability management solution. Verve will report to the company’s Lifecycle Services operating segment.

This acquisition, announced in October, expands Rockwell’s cybersecurity offerings to help build resiliency and security of customers’ operations.

SINGAPORE – Sembcorp Industries will invest about $10.5 billion in renewables, it said on Monday in its 2023-2028 strategic plan announcement.

The investment comes as the energy player looks to grow its gross installed renewable capacity and halve its emission intensity by 2028.

The $10.5 billion sum translates to 75 per cent of its 2024 to 2028 total investments.