Latest Semiconductor News Released on July 2 to 8, 2023

Broadcom to invest in a $1 billion EU-funded chip programme in Spain

Charlie Kawwas, president of Broadcom, revealed the investment about 1 billion euros in the European Union (EU)-funded Spanish chip project on Twitter.

Kawwas said the investment plan would be made under the European Chips Act, an EU initiative that includes 43 billion euros in funding aimed at increasing the market share of the global semiconductor market to 20% by 2030.

NAND Flash price will still drop in the second half of 2023

According to TrendForce's research, the NAND Flash production cuts of original manufacturers continue to expand, and the actual demand is unknown. In the third quarter, it is still in oversupply. However, in the second half of the year, there will be seasonal peak season demand support, but buyers still maintain a conservative attitude towards stocking up, suppressing the price of NAND Flash from stabilizing.

ASML denies considering special-version DUV for China

ASML denies trying to circumvent the new Dutch sales license ban and launch a special edition DUV lithography machine to China. The company said it will comply with all applicable laws and regulations, will not design the system specifically for China, and will not further respond to market rumors and speculation.

AI Raises $1.3B to enhance its Pi chatbot

Recently, San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup Inflection AI raised $1.3 billion in a new round of funding from investors including Microsoft, Nvidia and Google, which will support AI product, a personal assistant and companion called Pi (Personal A.I), which was launched in May. Pi's goal is to create a general purpose AI digital assistant. Many technologists see such assistants as the future of all human-computer interaction.

SK Square, SK Hynix set up $77 million chip investment unit

SK Square Co. and SK Hynix Inc. have launched a 100 billion won ($77 million) investment fund with two other South Korean companies to acquire promising overseas chip component and equipment makers. SK Square, the investment management arm of SK Group, said on Tuesday it has established investment firm TGC Square in partnership with Shinhan Financial Group and leading defense firm LIG Nex1 Co. SK said the fund is open-ended, so other companies looking for investment opportunities can join them later.

TGC Square, which initially targeted Japan and then expanded to the United States and other countries, aims to invest in small companies with outstanding technical capabilities in the field of microchip materials, parts and equipment.

China to restrict exports of gallium and germanium

On July 3, China's Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs issued an announcement, deciding to implement export controls on items related to gallium and germanium. The announcement will come into effect on August 1, 2023. For details, please refer to the relevant documents.

Samsung and LX Semicon work together on next-gen chip

Korea's LX Group, separated from LG Group, is currently considering entrusting the production of next-generation display driver ICs (DDIs) to Samsung Electronics' foundry. The collaboration between Samsung and LX is expected to positively impact the Korean domestic semiconductor ecosystem and diversify the supply chain, among other things.s

Micron to introduce GDDR7 memory in 1H 2024

Micron announced this week that it will launch its first GDDR7 memory chips in the first half of 2024. GDDR7 is expected to offer much higher performance than GDDR6X and should find its way into next-generation GPU from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel.

The new products will be built on the company's 1ß (1-beta) DRAM process node introduced last year, which will not only reduce DRAM manufacturing costs, but also improve efficiency and performance.

Tesla starts to lay off some battery workers at China plant

Tesla is laying off some of its battery-making workers at its Shanghai factory amid fierce price wars in China and deep discounts on cars from various manufacturers, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier this week, the company began notifying some employees of the first phase of the battery assembly line at its Shanghai factory to begin layoffs, people familiar with the matter said. Some employees may choose to move to another plant, such as stamping, painting or final assembly. And it is unclear how many battery assembly workers may be laid off.

Germany's Scholz hints at more chip investments to reduce dependency on China

Germany's Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, said on July 5 that Germany has plans to further invest in large-scale chip production. Europe hopes to become less dependent on China in strategically important industries.

Regarding the recent announcements by Intel and Infineon of their plans to invest and set up factories in Germany, Scholz said that German industries must be more flexible, and some industries must be located in Europe and Germany.

India aims to produce domestic microchips by end of 2024

India will break ground next month on its first semiconductor assembly plant belongs to Micron Technology. "We aim to produce the first chip products from this factory within 18 months, which is December 2024," said Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's electronics and information technology minister.