The Biden administration plans to impose export controls on critical technologies including quantum computing and semiconductor goods, seeking to align key allies in a US-led push to thwart advancements in China and other adversarial nations.
SEMICON Taiwan 2024 made its grand debut on the 4th. President of SK Hynix, Justin Kim, was invited to Taiwan and gave a keynote speech. He mentioned that to push AI technology towards AGI, core technologies including power consumption, heat dissipation, and memory bandwidth would need to be resolved.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Singapore, where he met with his counterpart and signed a series of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), including one focused on semiconductor cooperation. This makes Singapore the fourth country, following the US, Japan, and Malaysia, to establish a semiconductor partnership with India.
The British semiconductor delegation, composed of 24 firms led by the UK Government's National Technology Adviser Dave Smith, has made its splash at SEMICON for the second year in a row.
On August 4, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (PSMC) unveiled the Logic-DRAM multi-layer wafer stacking technology and 2.5D interposers to meet rising AI demand.
HBM4 memory will move toward integrating logic and memory processes to address greater power consumption issues and break performance constraints. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have already responded by collaborating with external foundries such as TSMC to create an industrial ecosystem designed to capitalize on the immense potential of AI.
Key AI chipmaking and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technologies will be highlighted at SEMICON Taiwan 2024, where major manufacturers will gather to present their most recent developments.
SEMICON Taiwan 2024 will feature more than 1,000 firms and up to 3,700 booths, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix.
SK Hynix is making significant strides in the development of 16-layer HBM4 memory, successfully demonstrating the integration of Advanced MR-MUF technology into these products. Kangwook Lee, the company's director of package development, revealed that SK Hynix plans to offer customized solutions by simultaneously advancing hybrid bonding and enhanced MR-MUF technologies in the future.
SK Hynix has announced the successful development of the world's first sixth-generation 10nm-class DRAM (1c DRAM), surpassing industry leader Samsung Electronics in achieving mass production readiness for this new product.
Even though the third quarter is the traditional peak season for consumer electronics and other end-market applications, DRAM and NAND flash memory spot prices have decreased almost uniformly throughout the quarter, according to industry sources.
After Nvidia confirmed the on-schedule shipment of its latest Blackwell GPUs, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) providers, including SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, expressed relief as competition in the HBM market intensified.
August 28 marked the 100th day since Vice Chairman Young Hyun Jun was appointed as the new Head of the Device Solutions (DS) Division at Samsung Electronics. The South Korean industry's opinion of him consists of more praise than criticism.
Kioxia, currently ranked third in the global NAND market, is reportedly set to go public in Japan in October 2024. The move aims to secure funds for R&D and production capacity expansion to catch up with industry leaders Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Samsung Electronics has announced the successful qualification of its automotive LPDDR4X memory for use with Qualcomm Technologies' Snapdragon Digital Chassis. This memory is intended for premium in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). With this strategic move, Samsung aims to capture market share from Micron, the current leader in the automotive DRAM market.
Micron Technology, the leading memory manufacturer, has announced a surprising move in its Taiwan operations. The company has entered into a purchase and sale agreement (PSA) with AUO to acquire existing factory land and equipment in Tainan. This acquisition, however, is not intended for the production of the highly sought-after High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) products as many had speculated.
The frenzy surrounding the launch of Black Myth: Wukong, China's first AAA game to find success in the global market, has spurred speculation of a ripple effect going into the traditional peak season for hardware sales.
Samsung Electronics reported a significant increase in memory chip production in the first half of 2024, surpassing 1 trillion chips. This surge is largely driven by a recovery in the memory market and Samsung's intensified focus on high bandwidth memory (HBM).
Kioxia, a leading Japanese NAND flash memory manufacturer, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. This highly anticipated IPO is slated for October 2024.
SK Hynix, which recorded its best performance ever in the first half of 2024, has experienced remarkable growth in the US and Chinese markets. The company managed to revitalize several of its previously unprofitable businesses, with China and the US now contributing 29.8% and 55.4% of its total revenue, respectively.
China-based cloud service providers (CSP) have placed short lead-time orders for HBM memory with Samsung Electronics, purposely stockpiling HBM chip inventory ahead of time due to concerns about the US' impending export restrictions, according to industry sources.
The scope of the US Chips Act appears to have exceeded that of the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund II (Big Fund II), but the American government's goal of reshoring semiconductor manufacturing remains a challenge.
Following the UK general election, attention has shifted to the country's national semiconductor strategy. An upcoming report urges the new government to conduct a comprehensive review of the semiconductor supply chain to ensure effective resource allocation.
