Latest Semiconductor News Update on October 22 to 28, 2023

SK hynix already sold out next year's HBM3E production

SK Hynix recently said it had sold out all of the HBM3E production it plans to produce in 2024, a memory chip used in AI that has seen explosive growth in demand. The latest product, HBM3E, is expected to power Nvidia’s AI GH200 GPU, which will be mass-produced in 2024. In addition, the company also stated that even if the demand for HBM3E expands, it will not lower the average selling price of the relative HBM3 products. This is because DRAM demand is expected to recover starting in 2024, and market demand for HBM3 remains strong.

Western Digital and Kioxia merger collapses

The proposed merger between Western Digital and Japan's Kioxia Holdings broke down, which started in the summer of 2022, Nikkei reported on Thursday. The two companies also failed to agree on terms with Bain Capital, the majority shareholder of Kioxia, the report added. At the same time, SK Hynix, a major investor in Kioxia and a competitor of U.S. and Japanese companies, said on Thursday it did not support the deal due to its impact on the value of its investment assets.

UMC Q3 Results declined 24.3%

United Microelectronics (UMC) reported third-quarter results on Wednesday and noted that it sees gradually stabilizing demand in Q4 but warned that customers still remained cautious.

The Taiwanese chipmaker's third-quarter earnings per ADS were $0.20, compared to $0.339 in the year ago period. Revenue declined 24.3% year-over-year to NT57.07B ($1.77B), but rose 1.4% sequentially. Although overall wafer shipments fell by 2.3% quarter-on-quarter, revenue and gross profit margins remained stable.

Qualcomm announces two new AI chips for PCs and android phones

The Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit was held grandly in Hawaii and Qualcomm announced two new chips, one for PCs and laptops called the X Elite and a new chip for high-end Android phones called Snapdragon Series 8 Gen 3. As a chip specially built for AI, Snapdragon X Elite’s performance in AI is very impressive, with 4.5 times the processing speed of competing products, it supports generative AI models running more than 13 billion parameters on the terminal side.

SiFive lays off 20% of its employees

SiFive, one of the key companies in the RISC-V ecosystem, is undergoing a major restructuring, marked by massive layoffs and a clear shift in business focus. The company appears to be withdrawing its pre-designed core products, which means it may focus on other new cores. At the same time, the move creates uncertainty about the overall future development and its contribution to RISC-V.

The company has laid off between 100 and more than 300 employees, down from about 700 employees in mid-October, and most of them are engineers, with some sales and product people.

Reliance in talks to acquire Israel's Tower Semiconductors

Reliance Industries, India's largest company, is in talks to acquire Israel's Tower Semiconductor. If successful, it will provide the group with an opportunity to enter the semiconductor field.

Reliance has close ties with the Indian government, which makes it easier for them to work closely together. Additionally, having a chip manufacturing unit will help Reliance protect its telecom and equipment from chip shortages.

Huawei’s net profit soared 168.6% year-on-year

On October 27, Huawei released a briefing on its operating performance for the first three quarters of 2023. During the reporting period, it achieved sales revenue of 456.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.4%, and a net profit margin of 16.0%. Based on preliminary calculations based on sales revenue multiplied by net profit margin, its net profit in the first three quarters of 2023 reached 73.056 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 168.6%, and has exceeded twice the net profit of 35.6 billion yuan in 2022.

Apple iPhone maker Foxconn being investigated in China

China has launched an investigation into Taiwan-based iPhone-maker Foxconn, Chinese state media reported on Sunday. According to the Global Times, the tax authorities have recently conducted tax inspections on Foxconn Group’s key enterprises in Guangdong, Jiangsu and other places in accordance with the law, and the natural resources department has conducted on-site investigations on the land use of the company’s key enterprises in Henan, Hubei and other places. Relevant people said that while Taiwan-based enterprises share development dividends and achieve rapid development in the mainland, they should also assume corresponding social responsibilities and play an active role in promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.