Author page description
February 13
- Nvidia's Resilience Despite Challenges
Unknown
➀ A blog post titled 'The Short Case for Nvidia Stock' gained over 500,000 views in 24 hours, despite the author not being a prominent figure in the investment community.
➁ The post linked DeepSeek's technical details to Nvidia's valuation, sparking a debate on Nvidia's future.
➂ Despite a significant drop in Nvidia's stock value, investors like Cathie Wood and Aswath Damodaran remain optimistic, highlighting the company's strengths and the evolving AI market.
➃ The article discusses the challenges Nvidia faces, such as in the AI chip market and the impact of DeepSeek's technology.
➄ It also examines Nvidia's competitive advantages, including cost-effectiveness and system architecture.
- Latest Semiconductor Key Terminal Market Sales and Industry Analysis | January 2025
华强微电子
➀ China's AI startup DeepSeek sees strong growth, with the global AI industry landscape continuing to evolve, and China's AI industry chain accelerating breakthroughs in 2025.
➁ In December, China's consumer electronics experienced fluctuations, with strong growth in home appliances, industry, energy storage, and new energy vehicles, while communication equipment remained低迷.
➂ In December, China's smartphone production decreased by 1.0% year-on-year to 130 million units.
➃ In December, China's new energy vehicle production and sales reached 1.647 million and 1.596 million units, respectively, with year-on-year growth of 43.2% and .0%, leading global electric vehicle growth.
➄ In December, China's industrial robot production increased by 36.7% year-on-year to 71,400 sets, benefiting from the obvious growth of domestic substitution.
➅ In December, China's photovoltaic battery production reached 67.0GW, with a year-on-year growth of 20.7%.
➆ In December, China's mobile communication base station equipment production decreased by 16.8% year-on-year to 590,000 sets.
➇ In December, China's TV production increased by 13.4% year-on-year to 19.671 million sets.
➈ In December, China's air conditioner production increased by12.9% year-on-year to 23.695 million units.
- Tianyue Advanced Announces 8-inch SiC Project Fundraising
Unknown
➀ Tianyue Advanced has disclosed new details about its Hong Kong IPO plan, including the fundraising details for the 8-inch SiC project.
➁ The company plans to issue up to 15% of its H shares for fundraising, with the funds to be used for expanding production capacity and technological research.
➂ Tianyue Advanced's financial performance shows a strong growth trend, laying a solid foundation for its IPO plan.
➃ The company has achieved significant technical breakthroughs in the 8-inch SiC substrate field, pushing forward the industrial upgrade and market expansion.
- Recent Progress in Thick Silicon AWG
Unknown
➀ A UWB, 0 to L band, polarization-insensitive (PI) 1×12 100GHz channel spacing arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) was designed and implemented a 3µm insulator on silicon (SOI) platform by VTT, with insertion losses ranging from -0.82 dB to -1.52 dB.
➁ A 3µm thick silicon waveguide has ultra-low propagation loss (0.1 dB/cm) and low birefringence over a wide wavelength range (1.2µm to 4µm).
➂ A 40-channel 100GHz spacing (de-mux/mux) multiplexer based on cascaded PEG was designed and manufactured on a 3µm SOI platform, with low crosstalk and low insertion loss.
February 12
- DeepSeek Just the Appetizer, LPU the King Card
Unknown
➀ The rise of artificial intelligence has led to significant technological advancements in the industry, with DeepSeek and LPU standing out.
➁ LPU, designed for language processing tasks, offers a new path in the AI field with its innovative architecture, impressive performance, and low cost.
➂ Groq's LPU, compared to GPT-4, shows a 18x faster processing speed and a 10x performance advantage over NVIDIA's GPU.
➃ Chinese companies like Wuwen Xingqiong are also investing in LPU technology.
➄ DeepSeek's release of DeepSeek-R1 model showcases its competitive edge in the AI field with its performance and cost advantages.
➅ The combination of DeepSeek and LPU is expected to revolutionize AI computing.
- China's Supercomputing Announces Major Move, OpenAI Speaks Out
Unknown
➀ The National Supercomputing Internet Platform announced the 'AI Ecosystem Partner Acceleration Program', offering free 3-month use of DeepSeek API and a 10 million card-hour computing power pool.
➁ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasized that the company does not sell and expressed willingness to acquire Twitter if Musk is willing to talk.
➂ Altman also expressed willingness to cooperate with China in the field of artificial intelligence and said it is very important.
- Major MCU Manufacturers Struggling
半导体行业观察
➀ In the backdrop of the "chip shortage" crisis from 2020-2022, the MCU market experienced rapid expansion, leading to profits for major manufacturers.
➁ However, the market has since faced challenges such as "cost reduction, inventory management, and localization".
➂ Major MCU manufacturers like Microchip, STMicroelectronics, and NXP have reported declining revenues and profits, reflecting a tough market environment.
➃ These companies are adjusting strategies, focusing on technology innovation, and seeking new growth points to overcome the current difficulties.
- Recent Progress in Silicon AWG
微信公众号
➀ The article discusses the recent advancements in silicon arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) focusing on channel count and crosstalk balance.
➁ It highlights the design and fabrication of a 12x100GHz AWG with insertion loss and crosstalk of less than 0.82 dB and -30 dB, respectively.
➂ The article also mentions the comparison of performance with previous siliconG papers, noting the best overall performance in terms of crosstalk, insertion loss, and channel uniformityp>
- Apple Drops DeepSeek, Partners with Alibaba for AI Features on iPhone
APPSO
➀ Apple has partnered with Alibaba to provide AI features for the domestic version of iPhone users, according to The Information.
➁ The two companies have jointly developed AI features for domestic use that have been submitted for review by domestic authorities.
➂ Apple tested various AI models from Chinese developers starting in2023 and initially chose Baidu as the main partner, but the cooperation was canceled due to Baidu's failure to meet Apple's standards.
February 11
- SemiCon China Reaches $8 Billion Revenue High in 2024
Unknown
➀ SMIC reported $22.073 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024, a 1.7% increase from the previous quarter;
➁ The company's gross profit was $4.99 billion, with a gross margin of 22.6%;
➂ For the full year 2024, SMIC's revenue was $80.299 billion, a 27% increase year-over-year;
➃ The company's operating profit was $4.927 billion, down 45.4% the previous year;
➄ Capital expenditures for 2024 were $7.33 billion;
➅ The company's 8-inch standard logic monthly capacity the end of 2024 was 948,000 wafers;
➆ The average capacity utilization rate for the year was 85.6%;
➇ The company's first-quarter guidance for 2025 is a revenue increase of 6% to 8% from the previous quarter;
➈ The expected gross margin for the first quarter of 2025 is 19% to 21%;
➉ SMIC expects its revenue growth in 2025 to be higher than the average of comparable industries, with capital expenditures remaining roughly the same as in 2024.
- Over 10 Billion Yuan in Investments: New Progress on 5 Domestic Si Projects
微信公众号
➀ Multiple SiC-related projects in China have made new progress, including the commencement and production of new projects.
➁ Fastest has accelerated the progress of its SiC electro-control project, aiming to produce 2.5 million sets of synchronizers and 100,000 sets of motor electro-control systems annually.
➂ Tianyi Semiconductor is conducting pilot studies on SiC crystal rod processes.
➃ The project for producing Moissanite and SiC materials in Gongcheng, Guilin, has commenced.
➄ Daye Carbon is set to produce ultra-fine and ultra-pure graphite powder and other products for semiconductor chips and SiC chips.
➅ YiYuan Semiconductor's SiC project is expected to be completed and put into production next year.
- Fujian Entrepreneur's Chip Business Boosts His Wealth by Over 200B in Half a Year
Unknown
➀ Deepseek's popularity has surged since the Spring Festival, sparking excitement in the secondary market for edge AI, boosting the stock prices of related listed companies, including chipmaker Rockchip.
➁ Rockchip's stock price has surged to 199.9 yuan per share, with a gain of nearly 100% since January 6th and a 400% increase from its low point on February 5, 2024.
➂ Founder Li Min's wealth has increased to 10 billion yuan, with an indirect holding of 423361% in Rockchip valued at about 32.9 billion yuan.
- OpenAI-o3-mini vs DeepSeek R1: A Comprehensive Comparison of Advanced AI Inference
SSDFans
➀ OpenAI's o3-mini and DeepSeek R1 are leading AI inference models, differing in design, performance, cost, and methods.
➁ o3-mini offers advanced reasoning, quick response times, and is integrated into ChatGPT, with a cost of about $1.10 per million input tokens and $4.40 per million output tokens.
➂ DeepSeek R1 is open-source, cost-effective, and shows its reasoning process, with a cost of about $0.14 per million input tokens for cache hits and $2.19 per million output tokens.
February 10
- 重磅！台积电正式断供！
xd211ic
➀ TSMC has officially notified a large number of Chinese mainland chip design companies of a supply cut;
➁ The supply cut will be effective from January 31, 2025, for products not packaged by "approved OSAT" on the US Department of Commerce's industrial and security bureau whitelist;
- Breakthrough Transformation from FinFET to GAAFET
半导体产业纵横
➀ The article discusses the evolution of semiconductor architecture from planar transistors to FinFETs and now to Gate-All-Around (GAA) technology.
➁ GAAFET, with its wider sheets, offers improved drive current and performance, and better electrostatic characteristics compared to FinFETs.
➂ The transition to GAA requires rethinking the physical design process, including vertical integration and optimized routing strategies.
➃ Innovative power delivery networks and advanced EDA tools are crucial for maintaining power integrity and stability.
➄ GAA technology presents opportunities to optimize power, performance, and area (PPA) in semiconductor designs.
➅ Challenges such as cost, complexity, and manufacturing issues are addressed through DFM tools and advanced verification methods.
- Is It Just Sour Grapes? Debunking Arm CEO's Evaluation of DeepSeek's Potential Closure
Unknown
➀ Arm CEO Rene Haas expressed his view that DeepSeek's emergence is surprising and may eventually be closed.
➁ Haas doubts the claim that DeepSeek's development cost was only $5.6 million.
➂ He predicts that DeepSeek may face closure in the future.
➃ Haas believes that the future of DeepSeek depends not only on its technical capabilities but also on the competition between China and the US in standard setting, computing power supply chain, and global developer ecosystem.
- Foreign Media Exposes the Backgrounds of Key Members of DeepSeek, China's AI Talent Return Trend Unstoppable
Rest of the World
➀ Key members of DeepSeek, such as Pan Zizheng and Junxiao Song, have backgrounds from both China and overseas, and have returned to China's AI industry after studying abroad.
➁ Pan Zizheng, who once interned at NVIDIA and received a full-time offer, chose to join DeepSeek without hesitation.
➂ Junxiao Song, who graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, proposed a novel reinforcement learning algorithm GRPO and played an important role in DeepSeek's efficient training and model distillation.
➃ DeepSeek's unique corporate culture and work environment attract top talent, offering employees freedom and passion for their work.
➄ The increasing trend of Chinese AI talents choosing to work in China is a reflection of China's growing strength in AI development.
February 9
- Five Thoughts on TSMC's Cutting Off 16/14nm Process Chip Supplies to Mainland China
Unknown
➀ The approved IC design companies and semiconductor packaging and testing companies are mainly from Europe, the United States, and Taiwan, indicating a clear intention to decouple technology. It is necessary to build a complete and independent domestic electronic information industry chain.
➁ The requirement for sensitive chip outsourcing and the use of designated packaging and testing companies show that packaging and testing will be the next target of US suppression. It is necessary to enhance wafer manufacturing and packaging and testing capabilities, ensuring close cooperation among design, manufacturing, and packaging and testing companies.
➂ The safety of nodes above 16/14nm, such as 20nm and 28nm, will not be a concern as long as a complete and independent industry chain is formed.
➃ It is necessary to ensure the sufficient supply of 16/14nm process technology as soon as possible to avoid affecting the upgrade of many products.
➄ Short-term focus on technology optimization and capacity expansion of mature processes such as 28nm, and medium to long-term breakthroughs in special processes such as automotive chips and the third generation of semiconductor. In addition, accelerate the research and development of new materials and new architectures, such as SiC/GaN, computing-in-memory chips, and silicon photonics chips.
- The Enigmatic Chip Company: Apple's Supply Chain Strategy and Its Impact on Suppliers
半导体行业观察
➀ Apple's supply chain management has been recognized as the best in the world since 2010, with Tim Cook further reducing suppliers to 24.
➁ Apple's supply chain diversification strategy helps reduce supply risks and strengthens control over the supply chain.
➂ Suppliers like Imagination and Dialog have faced challenges due to Apple's shifting supply chain strategy.
➃ Cirrus Logic, an Apple key supplier, provides high-quality audio chips and has a long-standing partnership with Apple.
➄ Cirrus Logic's SoundClear technology is used by Amazon Voice Service for high-fidelity audio playback.
➅ Apple's supply chain strategy involves self-developed chips and maintaining a diverse supplier base.
➆ The high dependency on Apple poses risks for suppliers like Cirrus Logic.
February 8
- 张忠谋17年来首场2小时深度访谈！揭秘与老黄冲突，锐评“没有人喜欢英特尔”
芯东西
➀ Zhang Zhongmou reflects on his later life in a 2-hour in-depth interview;
➁ He discusses the challenges faced by TSMC over the past few decades, including layoffs, the 40nm production crisis at NVIDIA, and the early difficulties with Apple's partnership;
➂ He reveals his considerations behind the appointments of TSMC's former and current executives.
- 5 SiC Projects Rush for Production: Over 360,000 Sheets and 350,000 Sets
微信公众号：行家说三代半
➀ Changhong Advanced Technology's Wuhan base is expected to achieve mass production by April or May;
➁ Jinyang Microelectronics' IGBT and SiC power module technical transformation project has been completed;
➂ Xinhua Electronics' annual output of 300,000 vehicle-grade SiC modules will be put into production;
➃ SK Group's 8-inch SiC project is scheduled for production this year;
➄ India SiCSem's SiC factory has been laid;
➅ India's Bhubaneswar School of Engineering and private company SiCSem have established a SiC research and innovation center.
February 7
- New U.S. Semiconductor Restrictions on China Take Effect: TSMC Suspends Shipments to Some IC Design Firms!
Xin Zhi Xun (Smart Chip News)
➀ The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued new export control regulations (EAR) targeting China, requiring more due diligence procedures for chips manufactured using advanced processes of 16/14 nanometers or below.
➁ The new export control regulations, which were announced 15 days before their formal publication, have already taken effect and are impacting the production and delivery of advanced process chips for some Chinese chip manufacturers.
➂ TSMC and other wafer fabs on the whitelist will not be restricted when manufacturing advanced process chips for chip design companies on the whitelist. Chip design companies not on the whitelist must apply to the U.S. Department of Commerce or have their final packaging and testing done byAT companies on the whitelist.
- Another 8-inch SiC Factory to Be Completed and Launched
行家说产研中心
➀ Wolfspeed's second 8-inch SiC factory, the Chatham Materials Factory, is set to be completed and launched.
➁ The factory is expected to be fully taken over by Wolfspeed by March 2024 and will begin production in June 2024.
➂ The factory, covering 220 million square feet, is currently undergoing final construction work, and Wolfspeed is testing SiC ingot production.
- DeepSeek Chip Ecosystem Partnerships
Unknown
➀ DeepSeek has partnered with numerous companies across various sectors, including chip enterprises, cloud service and AI computing companies, AI infrastructure enterprises, and application end enterprises.
➁ The chip enterprises include SiBase Flow, Huawei Ascend, Wallenius Technology, Muxi, TianShu Zhixin, etc., which are working on new adaptive AI chip solutions for edge computing scenarios.
➂ Cloud service and AI computing enterprises such as Huawei Cloud, Tianyi Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Baidu AI Cloud, and JD Cloud have integrated DeepSeek models into their platforms.
➃ AI infrastructure and application end enterprises like SiBase Flow, Wuwen Xingqiong, Lenovo, DaoTong Technology, and Sunyuan Technology are also collaborating with DeepSeek for various applications and optimizations.
February 6
- SiC Industry's Big Moves in Early 2024: 8 Companies and Institutions Announce New Developments
行家说产研中心
➀ Infineon expands its SiC collaboration in the automotive sector with Forvia Hella's next-generation 800V DC/DC charging solution.
➁ Mitsubishi Electric joins the EU's 'FLAGCHIP' project to develop new SiC power module technology for wind power generation systems.
➂ SiChuangzhi Technology's SiC modules enter commercial storage applications, improving efficiency.
➃ BMW and Porsche to release new SiC vehicles with significant energy savings and improved performance.
➄ Chinese Academy of Sciences' self-developed SiC devices pass aviation verification for space applications.
➅ Southern Grid and Fraunhofer iSE accelerate the development and application of SiC in power grid facilities.
- Apple to Launch New Chip: 3nm, Mixed Bonding, and 2.5D Packaging
icbank
➀ Apple has begun mass production of the next-generation M5 processor for desktops, laptops, and high-performance tablets.
➁ The new SoC is expected to use a performance-enhanced N3P manufacturing process.
➂ The M5 series is rumored to include M5, M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra processors.
➃ The M5 processors will use organic substrates with 'flavor enhancer ABF film' to increase interconnect density and reduce SoC packaging thickness.
➄ High-end M5 Pro, Max, and Ultra versions will use mixed bonding and 2.5D packaging technology.
➅ The SoC will use TSMC's N3P manufacturing technology, which allows for a 4% performance increase or a 9% power consumption decrease at the same clock speed.
➆ Apple's M5 chips are expected to offer significant performance advantages over the M4 CPUp>
- Gree Semiconductor to Spend Heavily on Acquisition of Japan's Shibaura Electronics
icbank
➀ Gree Semiconductor announced its intention to acquire all shares of Shibaura Electronics, a Japanese electronics peer, with a transaction value exceeding 65 billion yen ($426 million);
➁ The acquisition offer, priced at 4,300 yen per share, is 37% higher than Shibaura's closing price on Wednesday and is scheduled to start on May 7th;
➂ Shibaura's board has not yet approved the acquisition proposal, and Gree expressed confidence in the combined advantages, growth opportunities, and integration benefits after thorough understanding of Shibaura.
- Arm China's CEO Resigns, New Leader Appointed Amidst Turmoil
芯东西
➀ Arm China's joint venture, Unigroup AMLOGIC, has appointed Chen Feng, former Deputy General Manager of Rockchip, as its new CEO.
➁ The previous co-CEOs, Liu Renchen and Chen Xun, have stepped down but will remain as advisors until the end of February to assist with the transition.
➂ Chen Feng resigned from Rockchip on January 22, 2023, due to personal reasons.
➃ Liu Renchen and Chen Xun, who were appointed as co-CEOs in April 2022, have held multiple positions outside of Arm China.
➄ The appointment of Chen Feng may mark the end of Arm China's turbulent period and help the company adapt to the changing market environment.
- Chinese SSD Market: New Opportunities Driven by AI-Driven Storage Revolution and Breakthrough
Unknown
➀ The rise of AI and the global increase in computing power are accelerating the upgrade of data storage. Huawei predicts that by 2030, the amount of data used for model training will increase 1000 times to 400EB for every 1YB of new data added globally.
<>➁ The demand for storage performance, power consumption, and cost efficiency is increasing due to AI, leading to a shift from traditional HDDs to enterprise SSDs in data centers.➂ According to IDC data, the global market share of all-flash arrays in enterprise storage systems is expected to exceed 50% by 2028.
February 5
- China Announces Export Controls on Tungsten, Tellurium, Bismuth, Molybdenum, and Indium-Related Items
微信公众号
➀ China has decided to impose export controls on tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum, and indium-related items to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international obligations related to non-proliferation.
➁ The announcement requires exporters to apply for licenses from the Ministry of Commerce in accordance with relevant provisions of the Export Control Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulations on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items.
➂ These metals are of significant strategic and industrial value, widely used in various industries and considered as important strategic resources.