Author page description
December 2
- PC Key Chip Manufacturers Face Surge in Orders and Backorders Amid Tariff Concerns
➀ US President-elect Trump threatens to impose 10% to 25% tariffs on certain countries, impacting the laptop supply chain; brands like HP, Dell, and Microsoft have rushed to place additional orders with Taiwanese chip manufacturers like Winbond, Realtek, Unihan, and Molex to increase inventory before Trump's inauguration.
➁ The industry believes that the sudden increase in orders by laptop brands reflects unease about Trump's potential new tariff policies, boosting the operations of Taiwanese IC designers.
➃ Taiwanese IC design companies with dominant positions in laptop key chips are among the first to be asked to increase inventory by international laptop brands, and if the chip supply is insufficient, brands will have to bear the cost increase due to tariffs.
- InnoScience passes overseas listing filing
➀ InnoScience has passed the overseas listing filing with the China Securities Regulatory Commission;
➁ Plans to issue up to 107 million ordinary shares for overseas listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange;
➂ 51 shareholders will convert a total of 4.44 billion shares of unlisted shares in the mainland to overseas listed shares;
➃ Revenue increased by 769% to approximately 5.93 billion yuan in 2023, with a net loss of approximately 1.101 billion yuan, a decrease of 67.58% from 2021;
➄ Nitride semiconductor product line complete, with cumulative shipments exceeding 500 million units as of December 31, 2023;
➅ Global largest nitride semiconductor power device production base, with a monthly design capacity of 10,000 wafers;
➆ Fundraising plan includes expanding 8-inch nitride semiconductor wafer production capacity and product R&D.
- Huarens Group Takes Control of Changjiang Technology: Quan Huaying Appointed as Chairman!
➀ Changjiang Technology announced that the state-owned IC investment fund and Xindi Semiconductor have transferred 22.53% of their shares to China Resources Group's Panshi Runqi Information Management Co., Ltd., approved by the National Market Supervision Administration and the Korea Fair Trade Commission.
➁ High Yonggang, the former chairman of Changjiang Technology, along with directors Peng Jin and Zhang Chunsheng, resigned on November 13, making way for China Resources Group's board members.
➂ Quan Huaying, from the China Resources Group, has been appointed as the new chairman of Changjiang Technology, with Chen Rong and Liang Zheng also joining as non-independent directors.
November 27
- Moore Threads, China's NVIDIA, Prepares for IPO After One Year of Suppression
➀ Moore Threads, known as 'China's NVIDIA,' has filed for A-share listing guidance at the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau.
➁ The company, co-founded by Zhang Jianzhong, a former key figure at NVIDIA, has raised significant funding and is valued at 25.5 billion yuan.
➂ Despite being added to the U.S. entity list, Moore Threads is preparing for an IPO, indicating its resilience in the face of American suppression.
- IMEC Develops 64Gb/s O-Band GeSi Electro-Optic Absorption Modulator on 300mm Silicon Photonics Platform
➀ IMEC has made progress on O-band GeSi QCSE EAMs on a 300mm silicon photonics platform.
➁ The new structure design of QCSE EAMs includes improvements to suppress p-type doping, adjust the p-region structure, and reduce metal absorption losses.
➂ The device demonstrates a 3dB bandwidth greater than 50GHz and a dynamic extinction ratio of 2.3dB at 64Gb/s.
- Over 460 Million Yuan Investment in 8-Inch SiC Factory Construction
➀ Four SiC-related projects in China and abroad are making progress in construction.
➁ Jining's semiconductor packaging and testing base project phase two has started construction.
➂ Vishay's Newport 8-inch wafer factory has begun the first phase of construction with an initial investment of 4.65 billion RMB.
➃ Yinxinwei's IGBT/SiC power module manufacturing plant has opened, with a monthly capacity of up to 200,000 units.
➄ Jinchai Machine's semiconductor material equipment R&D and production project has been put into operation.
- Chip Design Companies Are Transitioning to Factoryization
➀ The reason for the factoryization of chip design companies includes the completion of technical accumulation.
➁ The oversupply of R&D talent accelerates the factoryization process.
➂ Adequate upstream resources drive the factoryization of chip design companies.
➃ The competition in the chip market is shifting from technology to efficiency and cost.
➄ The choice of upstream supply chain resources is crucial for the success of chip design companies.
➅ Innovation in products, technology, and markets is crucial for breaking through the current situation.
- Another Chip Industry Merger and Acquisition! Youa Group Announces Trading Halt
➀ Youa Group plans to acquire 82.37% of Shangyangtong, a power device chip company, through issuing shares and paying cash.
➁ Shangyangtong, founded in 2014, is headquartered in Shenzhen, focusing on the research and design of high-end semiconductor power device chips.
➂ Shangyangtong's revenue increased by 209% and 88% in the past two years, with a net profit of 140 million yuan in 2022 after turning a loss in 2020.
- Samsung Restructures Leadership: Semiconductor Head Directly Manages Storage
➀ Samsung Electronics announces a major restructuring of its senior management, maintaining a dual-CEO system.
➁ Deputy Chairman and Head of Equipment Solutions (DS) and Semiconductor Division Jeon Young-hyun will serve as co-CEOs alongside Han Jong-hee.
➂ The move aims to address the ongoing crisis in AI semiconductor business, particularly high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and enhance the company's competitive edge in the global market.
- Wuhan! Over 30 Chip Units Form Alliance!
➀ The 2024 High-End Chip Industry Innovation and Development Conference was held in Wuhan, where the High-End Chip Industry Innovation and Development Alliance was established.
➁ The alliance consists of over 30 units including Wuhan Institute of Industry Innovation and Development, Wuhan Xinxi, and China Information and Communications Technology, covering the upstream and downstream of the chip industry.
➂ The alliance aims to promote the innovative development of the high-end chip industry, and a cooperation agreement was signed by 8 units to accelerate the development of the industry.
- Beast-Level Performance! Seagate Nytro 4350 NVMe Enterprise SSD
➀ The rapid development of big data, cloud computing, and internet services has led to an increase in demand for enterprise SSDs as businesses accelerate their digital transformation.
➁ Seagate Technology and Phison have collaborated to design the Seagate Nytro 4350 NVMe SSD, offering various capacities and providing continuous performance, low latency, low power consumption, and high-quality service.
➂ The PCIe Gen4 SSD has a bandwidth over 10 times that of SATA SSDs and a throughput twice as much. The Seagate Nytro 4350 SSD offers up to 58K IOPS random write speed and 800K IOPS random read speed, providing continuous responsiveness and eliminating data bottlenecks.
November 26
- State Fund Support Focuses on Qingdao's Chip Industry
➀ The State Financial Supervisory Bureau expanded the AIC (Alternative Investment Company) equity investment pilot program to 18 cities, including Qingdao, to support financial resources for technological innovation.
➁ Qingdao has established six AIC equity investment funds, totaling 140 billion yuan, with a focus on the chip industry.
➂ Qingdao's IC industry projects have three highlights: emerging memory chips, AI chip layout, and key equipment projects.
➃ Qingdao's IC industry benefits from state-owned capital support, with significant investments in key projects like Xin En Semiconductor.
➄ Qingdao needs to increase the introduction of large-scale funds and focus on key industries to further strengthen its IC industry.
- STMicroelectronics: Fixed Contracts Lead to Dramatic Decline in MCU Sales
➀ STMicroelectronics reported a significant decline in MCU sales in 2024 due to non-cancellable and non-rearrangeable sales contracts used in 2022 and 2023, leading to increased customer inventory and subsequent drop in 2024 sales.
➁ The company's MCU sales for the first nine months of 2024 were approximately $2.58 billion, down 41.3% from $4.4 billion in the same period of 2023.
➂ CEO Jean-Marc Chery emphasized that 2025 will be a transitional year for the company to move towards better times in 2026 and 2027, with inventory adjustments expected to last at least until the first half of 2025.
- Trump Announces 10% Tariff Increase on Chinese Goods
➀ Trump announced a 10% tariff increase on nearly all Chinese imports as a countermeasure against synthetic opioids 'fentanyl' flowing into the U.S. through Mexico and other countries;
➁ Trump also said he would sign a presidential order to impose a 25% additional tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods on January 20, 2025, and this measure will last until the fentanyl and illegal immigration issues are resolved;
➂ Trump has made illegal immigration a major campaign issue and has explicitly stated that he will use the 'tariff' tool to the fullest to address this issue.
- Solanus Microelectronics Delays Two Major Projects by Two Years
➀ Solanus Microelectronics has decided to extend the scheduled operational status dates of its 'Annual Production of 360,000 12-inch Wafer Chips' and 'Automotive Semiconductor Packaging (Phase I)' projects to December 2026.
➁ The decision to delay is due to the large scale of the projects, high capital requirements, and market competition.
➂ The company has raised approximately 4.913 billion yuan through the issuance of shares to specific objects, which will be stored in a special account.
- World's First AI Cluster with CXL 3.1 Switch Unveiled
➀ Panmnesia showcased the first AI cluster supporting CXL at the 2024 OCP Global Summit;
➁ The cluster utilizes CXL 3.1 switches to accelerate AI applications like ChatGPT;
➂ CXL technology provides a new method to expand memory without additional server components;
➃ Panmnesia's CXL solutions include CXL IP and CXL switches, enhancing memory and interconnectivity;
➄ The AI cluster includes CXL-Memory nodes and CXL-GPU nodes for memory and AI model acceleration;
➅ The cluster demonstrated the first RAG acceleration on a CXL-enabled AI cluster at the OCP Summit.
November 25
- Surprise! A RF Chip Public Company in China Announces Major Layoffs, Research and Development Staff Cut by 40%, All Out in One Day!
➀ Guangzhou Huizhiwei Microelectronics Co., Ltd., a listed company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, has been reported to start major layoffs with a 40% cut in research and development staff, with compensation following the N+1 formula.
➁ The company, founded in 2011, specializes in the design of RF frontend chips for smartphones and IoT, with its main business being the research, development, and sales of RF frontend chips and modules.
➂ The layoffs are mainly affecting the Shanghai office, with the广州 office to follow. The company is facing financial challenges, including a decline in gross margin and negative net interest.
- The Future Outlook of Wafer Foundry Market under AI Demand Explosion and Ban Impact
➀ TrendForce predicts that TSMC will capture 66% of the global wafer foundry market revenue in 2025.
➁ The growth rate of the wafer foundry market is expected to increase by 20.3% in 2025, with TSMC contributing significantly.
➂ Key factors affecting the 2025 wafer foundry market include macroeconomic uncertainty and export control policy upgrades.
➃ The demand for wafer foundry is expected to grow due to chip manufacturing localization in major countries and regions.
➄ The capacity utilization rate of wafer foundry factories is expected to continue to rise in 2025.
➅ TSMC will lead in capital expenditure among the top ten wafer foundry companies globally in 2025.
➆ China's 12-inch wafer capacity is expected to account for 34% of the global total by 2027.
➇ Taiwan's advanced process capacity will decrease to 54% by 2027, while the US will increase to 21%.
➈ The process technology roadmap shows that Intel is closing the gap, while Samsung is falling behind.
➉ TSMC still occupies 69% of the global advanced process capacity.
➊ AI brings new opportunities to the wafer foundry industry.
- Global Semiconductor Revenue TOP10 Ranking: Up to $35.1B!
➀ The WSTS reported that the global semiconductor market grew to $166 billion in the third quarter of 2024, up 10.7% from the second quarter;
➁ NVIDIA topped the list with $35.1 billion in revenue, driven by its AI GPU strength;
➂ Samsung Semiconductor ranked second with $22 billion in revenue, mainly from AI server memory;
➃ Broadcom ranked third with $14 billion in revenue, with AI semiconductors as the main source of income;
➄ Most major semiconductor companies showed strong performance in the third quarter of 2024;
➅ The outlook for the fourth quarter of 2024 shows different trends, with data center markets expected to grow significantly for NVIDIA, Micron, and AMD.
- These Chips Are Rising in Price, While Others Are at a Premium
➀ The 2024 chip market shows a polarized price phenomenon.
➁ Analog chips, MCU chips, and some general-purpose discrete devices are experiencing price declines and even inverted prices.
➂ Storage chips and AI-related chips are experiencing price increases.
➃ Rockchip, a domestic chip company, announced a price increase due to rising costs.
November 24
- Is ZKGD (Zhongke Sunway) Really Worth 100 Billion RMB?
➀ Since September 24th, the A-share market has seen a strong rebound, with the computer sector up by 52%, far ahead of other industries.
➁ ZKGD's stock price has surged over 100% in the same period, surpassing 100 billion RMB in market value, setting a new record.
➂ ZKGD's revenue for the first three quarters of this year was 80.4 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 3.65%, while net profit was 7.7 billion RMB, up 2.57%.
➃ ZKGD's profitability has been growing, but its revenue growth rate has slowed down significantly.
➄ ZKGD's future growth prospects are uncertain due to the challenges in the server market and the impact of the US entity list.
➅ The company's market value may be overvalued given its current performance and growth prospects.
- AMD's Next Chip Stacking Innovation: More Than Just Ryzen SoC
➀ AMD is considering 'multi-chip stacking' for its future Ryzen SoC to achieve chip scalability.
➁ AMD has been committed to innovating its existing consumer CPU product lines, being the first to introduce a dedicated '3D V-Cache' module (known as the 'X3D' product line) in processors.
➂ A new patent application suggests AMD is exploring a 'novel packaging design' that aims to innovate chip stacking processes, ultimately reducing interconnect latency and bringing significant performance improvements.
- This Chip, Headed for Failure?
➀ Google's Tensor project has had some successes, notably supporting unique AI and photography features, but its four generations of chips have failed to make a significant impression on key performance and efficiency metrics, leaving Google's consumers behind.
➁ Google's next two generations of smartphones are expected to disappoint advanced users in many aspects. Will Google's return to Snapdragon be better? Is Google's Tensor project a failure? There are increasingly strong arguments for this.
➂ Google plans to significantly reduce the silicon area of Tensor G6, targeting an 8% reduction from G5. This will be achieved by canceling ray tracing in the GPU after only one generation,放弃一个DSP核心，系统级缓存可能会被放弃。G6 should launch with new, faster CPU cores, but the layout will be reduced to only seven cores to reduce the impact of upgrades.
- Google Debunks AI Chip Design Critics with DeepMind Research
➀ Google's DeepMind has published a research paper refuting criticisms of its AI chip design system, AlphaChip;
➁ The system, initially announced in 2020, has been used to design Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and has saved thousands of hours of human labor;
➂ Critics have质疑 the system's effectiveness, with one paper claiming it could not be replicated and another calling it 'false dawn';
➃ Google responded to the criticisms, highlighting the limitations of the critics' methods and defending the openness and transparency of AlphaChip.
- Yellow Hanxun's Hong Kong Speech (Full Text): AI Unleashes Scientific Revolution, Robotics Era Approaches
➀ Huang Renxun, the founder and CEO of NVIDIA, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He spoke about the transformation and outlook of artificial intelligence and his words to graduates.
➁ HKUST is a leading institution in artificial intelligence and data science research. The university's alumni have founded over 1800 startups, with 10 unicorn companies and 14 companies successfully listed.
➃ Huang Renxun emphasized that AI is starting a new computing era and will affect every scientific field and industry. He highlighted the integration of AI and machine learning into various scientific fields and the transformative impact of AI in fields such as drug discovery, genomics, and climate science.
November 23
- OPPO Expands Production in Indonesia with 24 Million Units
➀ OPPO has expanded and upgraded its production facility in Tanggerang, West Jakarta, which is capable of producing 2 million phones per month when fully operational, covering a full range of products from economy to high-end, and creating 1,200 local jobs.
➁ As the second-largest factory of OPPO globally and its largest overseas production base, the Indonesian factory plays a crucial role in OPPO's internationalization strategy. The expanded factory will have an additional annual production capacity of 24 million units.
➂ OPPO currently holds a 20% market share in the Indonesian smartphone market, ranking first. However, competitors such as vivo and Xiaomi are also actively expanding in the region, targeting the growing young and tech-savvy consumer base.
➃ OPPO has established production bases in countries such as India, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Brazil, and sells products through over 300,000 retail points in more than 70 countries and regions. Overseas markets account for about 60% of OPPO's smartphone shipments, with Southeast Asia and Latin America (such as Brazil and Argentina) as its main growth engines.
- European Semiconductor Giant Chooses Mainland China for Chip Manufacturing
➀ STMicroelectronics, a major European semiconductor company, has announced that it will have its 40nm microcontroller units (MCUs) produced by Hua Hong in China.
➁ The primary reason for this decision is the vast Chinese market, with Jean-Marc Chery, CEO of STMicroelectronics, stating that China is the largest and most innovative electric vehicle market.
➂ Despite China's advanced process limitations, the country has made progress in the semiconductor industry, with three Chinese companies ranking among the top ten global chip foundries.
- US Plans to Blacklist Over 200 Chinese Chip Firms
➀ The US plans to announce new export restrictions next week, potentially blacklisting over 200 Chinese chip companies;
➁ These restrictions would prohibit most US suppliers from shipping goods to the targeted firms;
➂ The Biden administration continues to tighten semiconductor export controls to China.
- A Look Back at Domestic Chips in 5 Years: A New Perspective
➀ The author discusses the establishment of the third phase of the major fund and its potential impact on the investment direction.
➁ The author mentions the recent low profile of Liang Mengsong, the co-CEO of SMIC, and reflects on the article he wrote about Liang.
➂ The author predicts that under extreme circumstances, Apple, Intel, and Qualcomm may be the first to fall, with Intel already struggling.
➃ The author highlights the changes in the mobile chip market in 2024, with Mediatek, Qualcomm, Apple, and Unisoc's Zhujin taking the fourth place.
➄ The author reflects on the challenges faced by SMIC and its founder Zhang Yujing, and the potential of SMIC under the leadership of Liang Mengsong.
➅ The author discusses the technological advancements in the chip industry and the importance of domestic demand in China.
➆ The author analyzes the strategy of SMIC and its ambition to achieve advanced manufacturing capabilities.
- The Arrival of Crucial DDR5 Pro 6400 Overclocked Version: Embrace the DDR5 Era!
➀ The DDR5 era has arrived with the launch of Intel Core Ultra 200 series and AMD Ryzen 9000 series, which only support DDR5 and not DDR4;
➁ Misconceptions about DDR5, such as high latency and low upgrade value, have been resolved, highlighting DDR5's advantages;
➂ Crucial DDR5 Pro OC 6400 utilizes Micron's 1zz process technology and supports both Intel XMP and AMD EXPO standards for better compatibility;
➃ The DDR5 Pro OC can improve game frame rates with a speed of 6400 MT/s, suitable for both gamers and creators involved in data-intensive tasks;
➄ The DDR5 Pro OC 6400 offers 16GB modules with aluminum heat sinks in black or white origami-style designs, enhancing the feel;
➅ Compared to DDR4 3200 MT/s, the DDR5 Pro OC 6400 doubles data transfer capabilities and has a lower real-world latency due to its higher frequency;
➆ The performance of the DDR5 Pro OC 6400 is partly limited by the Ryzen 5 7600 CPU, but it still shows great potential for future upgrades;
➇ DDR5 is becoming a necessity in 2024, and it's time to embrace the new era of DDR5!