Latest Semiconductor News Update on Nov 19 to 25, 2023

YAGEO had completed the acquisition of Schneider's Telemecanique Sensors

YAGEO, a Taiwanese passive component manufacturer, announced that it had completed the acquisition of Schneider's Telemecanique Sensors on November 1st, 2023 after the completion of various integration and delivery operations.

This acquisition was announced in October 2022 and will be carried out in cash with a total price of 686 million euros. This roadmap will implement Yageo's operational strategy of continuing to focus on high-end niche areas, further expand the product portfolio of high-end designs and high-end applications, and enhance its market position as a global niche component solution provider.

HBM market will surge by 52%

The latest analysis from market research company Omdia shows that SK Hynix's market share in the DRAM field reached 35% in Q3 2023. As high-bandwidth memory (HBM) becomes increasingly important in the era of AI chips. From 2023 to 2027, DRAM market revenue is expected to grow at an annual rate of 21%, while the HBM market is expected to surge by 52%. And HBM's share of DRAM market revenue is expected to exceed 10% this year and approach 20% by 2027.

Samsung fails to grab orders

Samsung still failed to grab orders from Apple, Nvidia, and Qualcomm, etc. based on its 3-nanometer GAA process. According to the news, Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm and MediaTek all cooperate with TSMC to produce their latest chips. Although some chips may be manufactured by Samsung wafer foundries, but they are usually not flagships.

According to previous market news, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 may adopt a dual-generation factory strategy, which uses both TSMC's N3E process and Samsung's SF3E (3GAE) process. However, both Qualcomm and MediaTek currently plan to use TSMC’s N3E process to manufacture Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Dimensity 9400 chips. Moreover, compared to the first-generation 3nm process used by Apple A17 Pro, N3E’s performance and efficiency will be improved.

The U.S. plans to develop 3D heterogeneous integration

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said it plans to award a contract next summer to establish a U.S. advanced microelectronics manufacturing center. The center will focus on 3D heterogeneous integrated microsystems (3DHI) – an advanced microelectronics manufacturing method. The premise of 3DHI research is that by integrating and packaging chip components in different ways, manufacturers can break up functions such as memory and processing, thereby significantly improving performance.

Nvidia sued for stealing trade secrets of French automotive company Valeo

French automotive company Valeo is suing Nvidia for stealing trade secrets. Nvidia hired former Valeo employee Mohammad Moniruzzaman in 2021, and before leaving Valeo, he copied numerous documents, including source code for an AI-assisted parking application and other confidential documents. And he accidentally showed the stolen files after a screensharing blunder, which others immediately documented with screenshots, now that he has been criminally convicted.

SK Hynix cooperate with Nvidia to redesign a radical GPU

SK Hynix and Nvidia reportedly working on a radical GPU redesign that 3D-stacks HBM memory directly on top of the processing cores, which would not only change the way logic and storage devices are typically interconnected, but also how they are manufactured. In fact, if SK Hynix succeeds, this may change the way the foundry industry operates to a great extent.

Under this, SK Hynix and Nvidia will likely co-design the chip from the start and produce it at TSMC, which will also use wafer bonding technology to mount SK Hynix's HBM4 devices on the logic chips.

Microsoft hires ex-OpenAI leaders Altman and Brockman

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on LinkedIn that former OpenAI founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will join Microsoft to lead a new senior artificial intelligence (AI) research team, and said Microsoft will quickly provide them with the resources they need to succeed. He also said he remains committed to the partnership with OpenAI.