The government in Taiwan, quite concerned about the future development of small- and medium-sized IC design houses in the country, is seeking to leverage academic forces to help them develop AI edge technologies and foster first-class design talent in the next few years through a US$132 million Taiwan...

Winbond Electronics and Macronix International have reported sequential decreases in November consolidated revenues of 3.2% and 21.8%, respectively.

Taiwan-based memory module makers have started landing orders transferred from their fellow China-based firms since September, according to industry sources.

DRAM ASPs are forecast to fall over 10% in the first quarter of 2019 after registering a 7-10% sequential decrease in the fourth quarter, according to DRAMeXchange.

DRAM maker Nanya Technology expects to post an around 15% sequential decrease in bit shipments for the fourth quarter, a downward revision from its previous estimate of flat growth.

South Korea's dominance in the manufacture of DRAM memory seems solid, given that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together control three quarters of the global DRAM market, but China, eager to improve its semiconductor self-sufficiency, is not ready to give up.

Trade tensions between the US and China may not seem to have a direct impact on the semiconductor industry, but subsequent developments of the row - if the two giants fail to make peace - will certainly have profound impact on the chipmaking sectors in both countries, Digitimes Research believes.

Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US$41.8 billion for the month of October 2018, up 12.7% compared to year-ago levels and 1% sequentially, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization...

Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) has announced it is teaming up with Winbond Electronics to develop eSIM and other secure elements for IoT devices.

Samsung is expected to have the largest capex budget of any IC supplier again in 2018, according to IC Insights. After spending US$24.2 billion for semiconductor capex in 2017, Samsung will allocate another US$22.6 billion in its capex for semiconductors this year.

The global semiconductor industry revenue grew 7.4% sequentially in the third quarter of 2018, reaching a record US$129.8 billion, according to IHS Markit. Semiconductor growth occurred in all application markets and world regions.

The ongoing tariff war between the US and China has already had a negative impact on all semiconductor industry sectors, according to CC Wei, co-CEO for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

The supply of high-end NOR flash memory chips continues to be tight though the supply of low-end ones has risen substantially to affect the chip prices, according to Macronix International chairman Miin Wu.

The world's top-3 memory IC vendors - Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology - saw their combined DRAM and flash memory revenues climb to a record high of US$37.3 billion in the third quarter of 2018.

Prices for low-capacity NAND flash devices have started bouncing back recently though the memory contract prices will continue their downward trend in the next couple of quarters, according to industry sources.

The overall output value of China's IC design, manufacturing and backend industries came to CNY446.15 billion (US$64.4 billion) for the first three quarters of 2018, rising 22.4% on year, according to the China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA).

Sales of automotive electronic systems are forecast to grow 7.0% in 2018 and 6.3% in 2019, the highest growth rate in both years among the six major end-use applications for semiconductors, according to IC Insights.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is expected to post record revenues for the fourth quarter of 2018, although many others in the semiconductor sector have turned conservative about the quarter and even 2019 due to the intensifying US-China trade war, weakening of crypto mining demand...

The three-month average of worldwide billings of North America equipment manufacturers registered a sequential decrease for the fifth consecutive month in October 2018, reaching an 11-month low of US$2.06 billion, according to SEMI.

Revenues of the global NAND flash industry increased 4.4% sequentially to US$17 billion in the third quarter of 2018, when the memory prices fell 10-15% on average, according to DRAMeXchange.

The world's top DRAM suppliers saw their operating margins climb to record highs in the third quarter of 2018, though their ASP increases started slowing down, according to DRAMeXchange. The top players remain focused on raising their output using more advanced process technologies to optimize their...

The global DRAM memory industry's output value grew 9% sequentially to a record high of US$28 billion in the third quarter of 2018, according to DRAMeXchange. While bit shipments continued to grow robust, prices started showing weakness during the quarter.

Tsinghua Unigroup has signed a strategic alliance with memory module firm Shenzhen Longsys Electronics in a move to accelerate its ambition in the NAND flash sector.

Memory-IC backend specialist Walton Advanced Engineering has announced net profits fell 92.6% sequentially and 93.5% on year to NT$16 million (US$0.52 million) in the third quarter of 2018. EPS for the quarter came to NT$0.03, hitting a 10-quarter low.

PCB and IC substrate supplier Unimicron Technology swung to net profits of NT$982 million (US$31.8 million) in the third quarter of 2018 from losses in the prior quarter and a year earlier. Net income for the first three quarters of 2018 came to NT$952 million, with EPS arriving at NT$0.64.