These are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories in the week of August 19 – August 23.
Intel's 18A under fire: struggling yields, skepticism, and a race against TSMC
Intel has been attempting to shift the narrative to a more positive light following the company's "gruesome" series of trainwrecks that saw a disappointing second-quarter 2024 earnings report on top of a weak third-quarter forecast. However, despite its best efforts, the company failed to address several critical issues, including the yield rates of the Intel 18A process, which have been reported to be "really bad." Most of Intel Foundry Services' revenue comes from Intel's products, with external clients remaining insignificant.
US Chips Act scale bigger than China Big Fund II, but manufacturing reshoring remains slow
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. In the two years since the US Chips Act's announcement, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) has signed an MOU with 16 companies to offer subsidies, yet the progress of Chips Act-funded fab construction projects has been slow.
What's behind the setbacks in Huawei's 910C chip production?
Reports from the Chinese semiconductor industry suggest that Huawei's Ascend 910C chip may face significant delays. The chip's samples have not yet been provided to customers, and the manufacturing yield remains problematic. As a result, procurement and bidding activities in the supply chain have been suspended, and the exact delivery time remains uncertain. Considering the typical 4 to 6 months required from sample production to official shipment, it is almost certain that deliveries will be postponed until 2025.
Intel's layoffs vs Samsung's labor disputes: shaping future semiconductor competition
Intel's underwhelming second-quarter 2024 financial results have prompted the company to announce plans to cut 15% of its workforce. In contrast, Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division, which also saw a weak second-quarter 2024 performance, has seen its workforce continue to grow. These differing labor-management approaches are likely due to the nature of their respective labor markets, with South Korea's far more rigid than the US's.
Global semiconductor manufacturing industry strengthens in 2Q24, SEMI reports
The global semiconductor manufacturing industry in the second quarter of 2024 continued to show signs of improvement with significant growth of IC sales, stabilizing capital expenditure, and an increase in installed wafer fab capacity, according to a recent report published by SEMI in collaboration with TechInsights. While the slower recovery in some end markets impacted the pace of growth in the first half of this year, the surge in demand for AI chips and high bandwidth memory (HBM) created strong tailwinds driving industry expansion.
Samsung lands short lead-time HBM orders from China CSPs
China-based cloud service providers (CSP) have placed short lead-time orders for HBM with Samsung Electronics, purposely stockpiling HBM chip inventory ahead of time due to concerns about the US' impending export restrictions. This has generated considerable profits for Samsung, with approximately 30% of its HBM chip revenue in the first half of 2024 coming from orders by China-based clients. These orders come at a time when Samsung's HBM3E was unable to pass Nvidia's initial certification.
Chipmakers hike DDR5 prices
In response to robust demand for servers that has resulted in capacity constraints, major DRAM manufacturers have significantly increased the prices of DDR5 memory in the third quarter. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have both notified customers of a more than 15% price hike for DDR5 memory in a single quarter, sources said. Micron has followed suit, boosting its DDR5 chip prices. The market pricing difference between DDR4 and DDR5 has grown from 25-30% to around 40%.
