RichWave Technology, a leading Taiwanese RF front-end chip manufacturer, reports that the adoption rate of Wi-Fi 7 is rapidly increasing, with major global telecom operators poised to enter mass production in the second quarter of 2025. This momentum is expected to intensify by the third quarter, driven by the proactive stance of these operators.

Microchip Technology is undergoing significant restructuring in response to a downturn in the automotive chip market. The company has announced the layoff of approximately 2,000 employees, representing 9% of its total workforce. The layoffs will affect facilities in the US, Philippines, and other locations, with particular impact on its Gresham Fab 4 in Oregon, Fab 5 in Colorado Springs, and backend manufacturing plant in the Philippines. These workforce reductions are part of a broader plan to reduce operating costs as the automotive chip sector faces challenges.

Taiwan-based Elan Microelectronics, a major provider of touch controller chip solutions, has disclosed that significant order momentum for product lines offering high gross profits boosted both revenue and gross profit margins in 2024. The company is cautiously optimistic about the market in 2025.

Malaysia announced Arm Holdings Plc's imminent deal to establish a base in Malaysia, highlighting the importance of political stability and transparent policies. However, the country's talent outflow challenges the plan, despite efforts under the National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS) and a commitment of MYR25 billion (approx. US$5.6 billion) to bolster semiconductor industry training.

GlobalFoundries GF and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have announced a new master research agreement to jointly pursue advancements and innovations for enhancing the performance and efficiency of critical semiconductor technologies. The collaboration will be led by MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) and GF's research and development team, GF Labs.

These are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories from February 24 – February 27.

The Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 is to kick off in Barcelona, Spain. Each year at MWC, the two leading IC design companies, MediaTek and Qualcomm, present the latest trends in communication technology. This year, both companies are set to officially launch their promotion of the sixth generation (6G), making for an anticipated head-to-head battle.

Nvidia's financial outlook disappoints, missing a forecasted triple-digit year-on-year growth for the current quarter. Industry sources expect that due to the ramp-up of GB200 and rising demand for DeepSeek-driven products like H20, RTX 4090/5090, and H100/H200, revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 are projected to potentially reach US$45 billion while maintaining a gross margin above 70%.

Although AI PCs underperformed market expectations in 2024, many industry players, from power semiconductor manufacturers to system providers, believe that significant growth will occur in the second half of 2025 as technology advances. Taiwanese power component manufacturer Panjit aims to capitalize on opportunities in the AI PC market through a diversified product line while also introducing its low-dropout regulator (LDO) products into the server sector, hoping to drive operational growth with AI servers.

At Dassault Systèmes' SolidWorks and 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025 in Houston, CEO Pascal Daloz outlined his 2025 market outlook, predicting strong growth in the US and Asia despite global economic uncertainty, while Europe may see a slowdown.

Nvidia's Q4 fiscal 2025 earnings (ended January 2025) stand out for their jaw-dropping scale and what they reveal about the company's transformation, even with a few wrinkles like a gaming dip. Here's what's special about the numbers:

Lite-On Technology is on track for a robust recovery in 2025, fueled by a surge in shipments of next-generation AI chips. The company is poised to capitalize on the expansion of its core businesses—cloud computing and optoelectronic semiconductors—with these advanced products driving its growth.

Arm has unveiled its Armv9 edge AI computing platform, featuring the Cortex-A320 CPU and Ethos-U85 NPU to power AI workloads at the edge. Capable of running models with over a billion parameters, the platform reflects Arm's push to decentralize AI processing, making it essential for the IoT.

The DRAM market is expected to remain at the industry's low point in the first half of 2025. According to Nanya Technology president, Pei-ing Lee, Chinese competitors' DRAM production capacity has far surpassed that of Nanya. Although major Chinese manufacturers focus on LPDDR4, without their output ramp-up, the DRAM market would have already recovered.

Qualcomm hosted a summit in Singapore to introduce its new X series chips and strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia. Kedar Kondap, Qualcomm's senior vice president of Product Management, emphasized the market potential, noting more than 8 million PC sales anticipated in 2024. The region's emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), led by Singapore, is expected to fuel substantial economic growth.

US President Trump announced that starting in April 2025, a 25% tariff will be imposed on semiconductors, automobiles, and pharmaceuticals, with plans for gradual increases. Experts believe that US fabless and integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) will be compelled to fully absorb the tariff costs passed on by TSMC due to a lack of alternatives.

Shanghai Zhaoxin Semiconductor Co., China's x86 CPU manufacturer, has successfully deployed the DeepSeek-R1 distilled model across its entire hardware lineup, supporting models ranging from 1.5B to 671B parameters. Its processors—compatible with PCs, laptops, workstations, and servers—offer native support for Linux, Windows, and domestic operating systems, along with optimization for Chinese-made AI accelerators.

Recently, China's State Council organized a private enterprise forum, convening leading figures from various high-tech industries, including internet services, robotics, electric vehicles (EVs), artificial intelligence (AI), and semiconductors. The sole representative from China's semiconductor sector was Will Semiconductor (WillSemi) founder and chairman, Renrong Yu.

Nvidia is addressing skepticism about the demand for its high-end GPUs by highlighting the increased computing power required for advanced AI models like DeepSeek-R1. The company plans to use Blackwell technology to handle complex tasks and improve processing times, targeting the growing global demand for reasoning AI. While US export restrictions have affected revenue from China, Nvidia remains optimistic about future growth.

On February 26, Nvidia released its financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 (February 2024 to January 2025), showcasing remarkable growth across all key metrics. The company reported record sales of US$39.331 billion for the quarter, a staggering 77.94% increase compared to the same period last year.

Chinese smartphone application processors (APs) shipments are expected to remain stable in the first quarter of 2025 despite the traditional off-season, supported by China's handset subsidy policy. Mid-to-high-end 5G models will likely appeal more to consumers within the subsidy-eligible price range, according to DIGITIMES' latest report covering Chinese smartphone AP market.

Raydium Semiconductor Corporation's board has approved its 2024 financial report and profit distribution. Full-year consolidated revenue hit NT$24.38 billion (US$743.59 million), the second-highest on record, up 32.9% compared to the previous year. Gross margin improved to 30.0% (+1.1pp year-over-year) while operating profit surged 54.4% to NT$2.13 billion. Net profit after tax climbed 45.5% to NT$2.1 billion.

STMicroelectronics (STMicro), a Franco-Italian chipmaking joint venture, is navigating significant pressures due to a downturn in key markets and internal performance concerns.

Onsemi has announced a significant restructuring plan in response to the ongoing challenges in the automotive chip market. On February 25, 2025, the company revealed its intention to lay off approximately 2,400 employees, equating to about 9% of its global workforce, as part of its strategy to streamline operations and prioritize core business areas.