These are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories in the week of September 16 – September 20.
Chinese smartphones employ 3nm chips, exacerbating Qualcomm and MediaTek competition
With the recent reveal of the A18 and A18 Pro chips in Apple's iPhone 16 series, all three major SoC manufacturers, Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek have introduced their 3nm flagship chips for 2024, signaling the start of the SoC competition. Given the uncertain recovery in the non-Apple smartphone market, brands hope the new generation of processors from Qualcomm and MediaTek will drive a new wave of upgrades.
How far is China from 28nm process after domestic lithography breakthrough?
Amidst continued export sanctions from the US and its allies, China's MIIT announced that the country's domestically developed ArF lithography machine had achieved a resolution of ≤65nm and overlay accuracy of ≤8nm in core technical indicators. This raises two crucial questions: How significant is the gap between China and ASML? And how far does China still need to go to produce high-end lithography machines?
Tata plans to build two more fabs in India
It is reported that Tata Electronics plans to establish two additional semiconductor fabs in Dholera, Gujarat, as part of its long-term strategy to produce chips locally and meet global demand. The next phase is expected to start in five to seven years, with the first fab set to begin production by 2026. The upcoming first fab will focus on manufacturing chips for PMICs, DDIs, MCUs, and HPC chips. Once fully operational, the fab is expected to achieve a peak manufacturing capacity of up to 50,000 wafers per month.
China's homegrown DUV equipment struggles with multiple exposures, hindering chip process advancements
China's latest domestically produced DUV exposure machine cannot perform the critical multiple exposures needed for advanced chip production, making it incapable of achieving finer process nodes like 28nm and below and hampering China's efforts to expand mature process production using domestic equipment. Significant technological advancements, particularly in immersion ArFi machines, would be required to overcome the limitations of the current DUV machines.
Huawei encounters difficulties with Kirin SoC performance breakthroughs
Teardown analyses of Huawei's recent Mate XT tri-fold smartphone reveal that the Mate XT continues to use the Kirin 9010 SoC, released in the first half of 2024, rather than Huawei's rumored new in-house 5nm processor. The company's reluctance to disclose chip details of the Mate XT has left industry observers questioning whether any significant breakthroughs have been achieved in its advanced manufacturing processes.
Qualcomm comes up short in AI PC debut, casting doubt on MediaTek market entry
Notebook supply chain sources reveal that Qualcomm's June launch of the Copilot+ PC has fallen short of expectations, with disappointing reviews and market feedback. Adding to this, Qualcomm's strained partnership with Arm, due to ongoing licensing disputes, has resulted in declining sales and momentum. Despite this, AI-enabled PCs have revitalized the sluggish PC market, with the Arm vs. x86 showdown becoming a clear focal point.
China-based CXMT's aggressive production expansion may disrupt global DRAM market
With strong backing from the Chinese government, CXMT is aggressively expanding its DRAM production capacity, potentially challenging the triopoly led by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron. The company's output grew from 120,000 wafers per month at the end of 2023 to 160,000 in the first quarter of 2024 and is projected to reach 200,000 by year-end, representing 11% of global DRAM production.
