Latest Semiconductor News Update on Feb 18 to 24, 2024

IMEC’s Breakthrough ADC for very-high-speed wireline

At this week's IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), Imec has unveiled a new architecture that it says lays the foundation for a whole new generation of analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs). The large-scale time-interleaved slope ADC design features high power efficiency and a very compact footprint while promising excellent conversion speeds. So it is ideally suited to meet the explosive data processing and throughput demands of data centers driven by the proliferation of cloud computing and generative AI applications.

Training AI models requires massive amounts of computing power, which requires data centers to invest in increasingly powerful optical networks to enable fast, reliable communication between servers, storage devices and network equipment. At the same time, their components continue to increase in size and power consumption. The new ADC architecture is designed to solve this problem.

Infineon sells two backend power sites to ASE

Infineon Technologies is to sell two backend manufacturing sites in the Philippines and South Korea for power and automotive to ASE alongside long term supply agreements to expand power chip module packaging and testing and leadframe packaging for automotive and industrial automation applications. The investment amount exceeds NT$2.1 billion, and the transaction will be completed by the Q22024 at the earliest.

Among them, Infineon Technologies Manufacturing Ltd, located in Cavite City, Philippines, was acquired by ASE Semiconductor through the acquisition of 100% of the common shares of the upper-level holding company (Cypress Manufacturing, Ltd.), with a transaction amount of approximately 38.998 million euros (approximately NT$1.32 billion). In addition, Infineon Technologies Power Semitech Co., Ltd., located in Cheonan City, South Korea, was acquired by ASE’s Korean subsidiary for approximately 23.591 million euros (approximately NT$798 million).

Nvidia's earnings soar as AI hits the mainstream

On Wednesday, the much-anticipated Nvidia reported the Q42023 earnings. Data showed that the company had revenue of $22.1 billion in the past quarter, compared with expectations of $20.55 billion, and earnings per share of $4.93 (compared with expectations of $4.64). Revenue was up 22% from the previous quarter and 265% from the same period last year. According to Reuters, Nvidia's forecast exceeded expectations, but by a smaller margin than last year. Through the first three quarters of 2023, Nvidia reported quarterly revenue that topped analysts' expectations by 10% to 20%.

Already huge demand for the company's data center chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) continues to grow as companies scramble to expand their AI offerings. Nvidia dominates the global AI chip market, for example, well-known companies such as Microsoft, META and Google are as its customers.

Arm Neoverse N3 and V3 with CSS launched

Arm has launched new Neoverse N3 and V3 products with CSS. As one would expect, the Neoverse N3 updates the N2, and the Neoverse V3 updates the V2. CSS is Arm's computing subsystem that provides more prepackaged IP to help companies develop chips or chiplets faster. There is something need to know that the core is declared available when it appears in product on the shelf (and has been pre-shipped to specific customers for a while). So in Arm's announcement, its IP is now available to customers for use in manufacturing chips. And it is worth mentioning that the competition between Intel and AMD for Neoverse V3 and N3 will be the next generation products.

Samsung Electronics sold remaining ASML shares in Q4

Samsung Electronics Co. sold its entire remaining stake in ASML Holding NV in the December quarter as part of its push to expand into new areas. According to Samsung's accounting report, Samsung held 1.58 million ASML shares (0.4% shareholding ratio) from July to September 2023, and Samsung has sold all of it from October to December 2023. Based on the ASML stock price estimate, Samsung will get 1.2 trillion won in funds. This move is to prepare for the recovery of the semiconductor market and ensure the funds needed for semiconductor investment. Samsung’s capital expenditure (equipment investment) last year reached 53.1 trillion won, the same level as the highest record in history in 2022.

U.S. adds new 8 entities in China to the list

According to news on February 23, the US BIS revised the new export control regulations and added 93 entities to the entity list. Among them, 8 companies from China, 1 company from India, 2 companies from Kyrgyzstan, 63 companies from Russia, 1 company from South Korea, 16 companies from Turkey and 4 companies from the United Arab Emirates are listed on the entity list. These entities have been determined by the Biden administration to be in violation of their country's laws, and this document will be published in the Federal Register on February 27.

Compared with the 14 major categories of emerging technologies included in the entity list by the U.S. Security and Industry Bureau, they basically cover the "ten major areas" emphasized in China's manufacturing power strategy: new generation information technology, high-end CNC machine tools and robots, aerospace equipment, marine engineering equipment and high-tech ships, advanced rail transit equipment, energy-saving and new energy vehicles, electric power equipment, new materials, biomedicine and high-performance medical equipment, agricultural machinery and equipment.

Auto supplier Forvia to cut 10000 jobs in Europe

Forvia, a French autoparts supplier, said today that it will cut 10,000 jobs as it looks to lower costs and keep up with EU regulations pushing the industry toward more electric alternatives. The layoffs will be achieved through layoffs, attrition and the elimination of contract positions and will affect approximately 13% of the workforce. Forvia said the move was aimed at staying competitive as overall car sales in Europe fall due to EU policies promoting the development of electric vehicles and as the customer base changes as Chinese electric carmakers expand in Europe. Companies therefore need to adapt to the EU's changing climate policies, which are phasing out gas-powered cars. So Forvia needs to remain competitive as car sales in continental Europe to adapt a changing customer landscape, a company spokesman said.