➀ Cambricon Technologies achieves its first quarterly profit in late 2024; ➁ Revenue surged nearly 70% in 2024; ➂ Cambricon's stock skyrocketed over 470% in the past year.
Recent #China news in the semiconductor industry
➀ The U.S. government plans to impose stricter export controls on advanced processors made by TSMC, GlobalFoundries, Intel, and Samsung Foundry. These rules target processors with 30 billion transistors or more on 14nm or 16nm nodes. ➁ Exceptions include chips with fewer than 30 billion transistors and those designed by companies based in the U.S. or Taiwan. ➂ The new rules may impact the sale of mainstream GPUs to Chinese entities, particularly in the AI and gaming sectors.
➀ Industry groups criticize the lack of consultation on new US export controls for AI processors; ➁ The new regulations may negatively impact US companies and shift market share to international competitors; ➂ The restrictions could hinder China's development of AI processors and bolster the efforts of other countries to produce sovereign processors.
➀ SpacemiT introduces the VitalStone V100 with up to 64 RISC-V cores; ➁ The processor is based on OpenC910 project design and is made on a 12nm process technology; ➂ Each core achieves a SPEC CINT2006 integer score of 9, placing it on par with older processors like the Intel Xeon E5520 and AMD Opteron 6212 but with a higher core count.
➀ The world's total nuclear power capacity stands at 396 GW with 299 GW underway; China is set to become the leader with 176 GW if all planned reactors are completed. ➁ The US plans to add 7 GW, while France, Russia, and India are also expanding their nuclear capacity. ➂ Poland, France, the US, and Iran are among countries planning to build new nuclear plants.
➀ The formation of the 'China for China' supply chain is accelerating, with the Chinese government aiming for domestic car manufacturers to source 25% of their ICs locally by 2025. ➁ ST has partnered with HHGrace to develop 40nm industrial/automotive-grade MCUs, with mass production expected later this year. ➂ Renesas, NXP, and Infineon are in discussions with Chinese foundries for local sourcing.
➀ China's Big Fund III has begun spending its $47 billion allocation; ➁ The fund aims to support chip production equipment developers and makers; ➂ The investment is part of China's effort to become self-sufficient in semiconductor production.
➀ China-based memory maker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) began shipping DDR5 memory chips, but their die size is 40% larger than Samsung's;
➁ The larger die size is due to the use of less advanced chipmaking technology;
➂ CXMT's 16 Gb DDR5 die size is comparable to first-generation DDR5 chips;
➃ CXMT's DDR5 costs are likely higher than Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix;
➄ The large die size indicates CXMT is years behind in process technology compared to competitors.
➀ The success of China's EVs is negatively impacting foreign car producers; ➁ Foreign companies like Nissan, General Motors, Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes are struggling in China; ➂ Toyota and Honda are exceptions, with Toyota building a new EV factory and Honda restarting EV production in China.
➀ The Biden administration has launched a formal investigation into Chinese-made legacy semiconductors; ➁ The investigation highlights concerns over China's expanding dominance in this sector; ➂ The U.S. Commerce Department's investigation could lead to new restrictions on Chinese imports.
➀ The market sentiment towards China's semiconductor industry is pessimistic due to capital withdrawal and layoffs.
➁ Professor suggests that the good news is that the U.S. is blocking China's advanced technology, not mature technology, which presents an opportunity.
➂ The bad news is that China's advanced semiconductor technology is not promising in the short term, with numerous issues and a lack of original innovation.
➀ The US Commerce Department has requested Nvidia to investigate how its chips entered China over the past year.
➁ Nvidia has asked Supermicro Computer and Dell Technologies to inspect Southeast Asian clients, as their server products use Nvidia's AI chips.
➂ Nvidia emphasizes compliance with export restrictions and denounces any illegal sales.
➃ Some individuals are suspected of copying serial numbers from Supermicro's servers and connecting them to other servers they have access to.
➄ China's State Administration for Market Regulation has launched an investigation against Nvidia for suspected violations of the Anti-Monopoly Law.
➅ Nvidia's acquisition of Mellanox, a network interconnect product company, has raised concerns about potential monopolistic practices.
➆ The US government has imposed restrictions on the export of advanced AI chips to China, including Nvidia's A100 and H100.
➇ In response to US restrictions, China has taken countermeasures, including restricting exports of certain materials to the US.
➀ The U.S. Department of Defense removes AMEC, a Chinese etching and deposition toolmaker, from the list of companies linked to the Chinese military. ➁ The removal eases some restrictions but AMEC remains on the Commerce Department's Entity List, limiting its technology development. ➂ AMEC has faced similar blacklisting in the past, including in 2021.
➀ British company Imagination Technologies supplies key GPU technologies to Chinese companies; ➁ UKCT accuses Imagination's managers of facilitating technology transfer; ➂ Imagination Technologies denies any wrongdoing and maintains industry standards were followed.
➀ China experienced a decline in chip investment, with new investment deals dropping by 35.9% year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2024; ➁ The total funding decreased by 32.4%; ➂ ChangXin Memory and Unisoc were the largest and second-largest investors, respectively. JW Insights notes that the US semiconductor market surpassed China's in Q3, driven by massive AI infrastructure investments in the US.
➀ Xi'an Yishuiwei Materials, a leading domestic silicon wafer manufacturer, has had its IPO application accepted on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.
➁ The company is the largest 12-inch silicon wafer manufacturer in mainland China, with a global market share of about 7% in terms of production capacity and 4% in monthly shipments.
➂ Established in 2016, Xi'an Yishuiwei has become a strategic supplier to major global silicon wafer suppliers, providing silicon wafers to most of the domestic leading logic wafer fabs.
The semiconductor laser market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9% from 2023 to 2029, expanding from $3.1 billion to over $5 billion. Growth is driven by the expansion of laser applications, shifts towards energy efficiency, compact size, and precision, and integration with multiple technology platforms. The telecom and infrastructure segment is the largest market, while the consumer market is expected to grow at a 1% CAGR to reach $1.75 billion in 2029. Moderate growth in the consumer segment is due to the decline in optical sensing applications, while significant expansion in the automotive segment is anticipated, especially in China.
➀ China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) is investigating Nvidia over its 2019 acquisition of Mellanox Technologies; ➁ Nvidia faces a potential fine of up to $1.03 billion; ➂ The probe is part of China's retaliation against U.S. export controls on semiconductor technology.
➀ SEMI forecasts semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales to grow 6.5% year-on-year to $113 billion in 2024, with projections of $121 billion for 2025 and $139 billion for 2026. ➁ The wafer fab equipment (WFE) segment is expected to grow 5.4% to $101 billion in 2024, driven by DRAM, HBM, and China. ➂ Back-end equipment sales are projected to surge, with test equipment sales increasing 14.7% in 2025 and 18.6% in 2026.
➀ NVIDIA is being investigated for antitrust practices in China.
➁ The investigation is related to NVIDIA's acquisition of Mellanox and its sales practices in China.
➂ The article discusses the impact of NVIDIA's technologies on the AI industry and its competition with Intel and AMD.
➃ The article also explores the broader context of chiplet technology and the competition between different interconnect standards.