Back in June 2024, Samsung announced innovations in its foundry for 4nm, 2nm, and 1.4nm process nodes. Now, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) has also shown off its latest cutting edge 1.4nm process technology, which will power future products from tech giants like Nvidia, Apple, AMD, and others.

TSMC 1.4nm process officially announced

The world’s largest contract chipmaker has revealed that the 1.4nm A14 process will enter production in 2028 with various improvements over the 2nm process. This includes a 30 percent reduction in power draw, while boosting performance by around 15 percent. For those unaware, TSMC’s 2nm process is set to hit production later this year.

Since TSMC has a varied client list, the next gen process would likely power future iPhones, Nvidia GPUs, AMD chips, and much more. According to TSMC, there is a 20 percent increase in logic density, which allows for the performance boost over the 2nm process. Comparing it to the current TSMC 3nm process, the 1.4nm is basically up to 30 percent faster and makes it 60 percent more efficient.

To recall, Apple’s new iPhone 17 lineup is expected to use the latest N3P node (3nm) for the A series chips, so the shift to 2nm might arrive a couple of years after. In other words, tech from the 1.4nm process is still a few generations away as well. This is all the information we have at the moment, so stick around for more.

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Samsung‘s foundry business has been facing difficulties attracting customers for their latest chip manufacturing processes (3nm and 4nm). Despite this challenge, they are actively forging ahead with development of even more advanced technology, including the 2nm process.

Samsung is also planning to mass produce chips using 3nm tech later this year

This 2nm process will utilize next-generation gate-around transistor (GAA) technology, which is expected to be mass produced in 2025. Samsung will be showcasing this technology at upcoming industry conferences.

GAA itself is a new transistor design that improves efficiency and performance by allowing for better current flow. Samsung first introduced GAA technology in their 3nm process, but so far, only their own Exynos processors have taken advantage of it. Compared to 5nm chips, the first-generation 3nm GAA chip offers significant improvements in area reduction, performance, and energy efficiency.

Looking ahead, Samsung plans to mass produce chips using the second-generation 3nm GAA technology later in 2024. This technology is expected to offer even greater advancements. While their main competitor, TSMC, hasn’t adopted GAA technology yet, both companies (along with Intel) are expected to utilize it in their upcoming 2nm processes.

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Apple is reportedly accelerating development of its next-generation M4 chips, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. These chips are expected to power new Macs by the end of 2024, with a focus on boosting AI processing performance.

Mark Gurman from Bloomberg suggested a similar timeline to the M3 rollout

Following the M3 launch in October 2023, Gurman suggests a similar October release timeframe for the M4 series. The rollout will be staggered, starting with upgrades to the iMac, entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and Mac mini models. This will be followed by updates to the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air in spring 2025, then the Mac Studio in mid-2025, and finally the Mac Pro in late 2025.

Gurman also reports on codenames for at least three M4 variants: Donan (low-end), Brava (mid-range), and Hidra (high-end). Donan will be found in entry-level MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini models, while Brava equips high-end MacBook Pro and Mac mini configurations. The Hidra chip, likely destined for the Mac Pro, hints at a potential “Ultra” or “Extreme” branding upon release.

The M4 Mac desktops are expected to support a significant memory upgrade, reaching up to 512GB of unified memory compared to the current 192GB limit. While maintaining the 3nm manufacturing process of the M3 chip, Apple’s supplier TSMC might utilize an enhanced version for improved performance and energy efficiency. Additionally, Apple plans to significantly improve the Neural Engine, likely increasing the cores dedicated to AI tasks.

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Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a major player in the graphics processing unit (GPU) market, has been tweaking its business operations in China. While the company has refuted online rumors about slashing hundreds of jobs in its Shanghai office, it did confirm a “small optimization and restructuring” in a recent statement. But what does this really mean, especially in a market as significant yet challenging as China which is already struggling in the Chip sector?

China accounted for 22% of the total AMD external sales last year

China has been a lucrative market for AMD, accounting for 22% of its total sales to external customers in 2022. However, a U.S. export ban has impacted AMD and its main rival, Nvidia, limiting their abilities to sell advanced AI-training GPUs in the country. As a result, a robust black market has emerged, filling the gap and serving China’s tech giants who are on the hunt for top-tier AI chips.

Despite these hurdles, AMD’s CEO Lisa Su remains optimistic about the potential in China. She recently stressed the company’s commitment to be “fully compliant with U.S. export controls” while expressing a strong desire to offer AI solutions tailored for the Chinese market.

Although AMD hasn’t given details about its recent “restructuring” in China, it’s critical to remember that in the local context, the term often refers to job cuts. Under Chinese law, a layoff involving more than 20 employees calls for official labor authority intervention. AMD, like other U.S. tech companies Qualcomm and Marvell Technology, seems to be reducing its workforce in China as part of an industry-wide reaction to the U.S.-China tech war and global consumer electronics demand fluctuations.

Everyone is probably confused if AMD is retreating or simply adapting? It appears the company is taking calculated steps to navigate through complex geopolitical and market conditions. By optimizing its operations, AMD seems to be positioning itself to capture what it sees as long-term opportunities in China, without alienating itself from existing U.S. policies. With its strong revenue stream from the country, AMD is unlikely to completely withdraw, but a shift in strategy is clearly happening.

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SK Hynix has unveiled its latest DRAM innovation, the HBM3E memory, a groundbreaking product specifically designed for AI applications. This announcement establishes the company’s dominance in the ultra-high-performance memory sector. Samples are already being distributed to customers for performance verification, and mass production starts in 1H24.

HBM3E Achieves an Astounding 1.15TB/s Data Processing Speed

HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) refers to a stack of multiple DRAM chips vertically arranged, which considerably amplifies data processing speeds. The evolution of HBM DRAM has seen its advancements from the first-generation HBM to the most recent, fifth-generation HBM3E. Notably, HBM3E is an enhancement of its predecessor, HBM3.

With their extensive history in HBM production, SK Hynix commented on the release, “As the exclusive manufacturer of HBM3, our development of the world’s most superior HBM3E showcases our deep expertise and commitment to leading the AI memory market.” The company has plans to commence mass production of this cutting-edge memory by the first half of the subsequent year.

The HBM3E boasts a staggering data processing speed of 1.15 terabytes per second. To put this in perspective, it’s capable of handling 230 full high-definition (FHD) movies, each 5 gigabytes in size, in just one second.

Beyond its sheer speed, the product incorporates the latest Advanced MR-MUF technology, enhancing heat dissipation by a notable 10% compared to its previous generation. Furthermore, the HBM3E is designed with backward compatibility. This feature enables a seamless transition for customers, allowing the integration of HBM3E into existing HBM3-based systems without necessitating any design alterations.

The longstanding partnership between NVIDIA and SK Hynix further solidifies the promise of HBM3E. Ian Buck, VP of NVIDIA’s Hyperscale and HPC Division, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration’s future, emphasizing the potential of the new HBM3E in revolutionizing AI computing.

Samsung is also set to start mass production of HBM chips tailored for AI in the latter half of 2023, competing directly with SK Hynix. In 2022, SK Hynix held a 50% share of the HBM market, Samsung had 40%, and Micron accounted for the remaining 10%. The HBM market constitutes just 1% of the overall DRAM segment.

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In a recent announcement, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) confirmed that it has fallen victim to a cyber attack, resulting in a data breach. The company acknowledged that some data had been leaked but assured the public that customer information remains secure. TSMC’s business operations have not been affected by the incident.

The Hackers are threatening to release login data to the public

According to a TSMC spokesperson, the cybersecurity breach was primarily related to the initial server setup and configuration. The company promptly responded to the incident by terminating data exchange with the supplier involved, adhering to its robust security protocols and standard operating procedures.

The group claiming responsibility for the security incident is LockBit, a notorious blackmailing organization. LockBit has published the stolen data on its website and is demanding a staggering ransom of $70 million. Should TSMC refuse to comply, LockBit threatens to release passwords and login information associated with the stolen data.

TSMC has made it clear that the compromised data originated from Kinmax Technology, a service provider offering IT solutions such as networking, cloud computing, storage, and database management to TSMC. While TSMC remains committed to resolving the situation, it is also collaborating with relevant authorities and cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident further.

As one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers, TSMC’s security breach raises concerns within the tech industry. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the evolving threats faced by organizations, highlighting the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures.

TSMC’s prompt response in terminating data exchange with the supplier demonstrates its commitment to safeguarding its operations and protecting customer information. The company’s dedication to adhering to established security protocols will undoubtedly be instrumental in resolving this breach and preventing similar incidents in the future.

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Qualcomm, a leading semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company, has recently announced the launch of two modem chips, namely 212S and 9205S. These chips are launched so as to cater to the growing demands of the enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) sector as well as the satellite industry, which is expected to boom over the next decade. Offering hybrid connectivity and boasting ultra-low power consumption, the chips aren’t your regular Qualcomm chips. They comply with the 3GPP Release 17 standard, making them ideal for ground synchronous orbit (GEO/GSO) satellite communication. Additionally, they also support global positioning capabilities (GPS).

The 212S is perfect for long-distance fixed-location applications

The 9205S chip, which has already hit the market, is advertised to provide seamless connectivity between IoT devices and both cellular and satellite networks. This integration enables precise positioning data through the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). As a result, the chip will find applications in various industries, such as tracking shipping containers, monitoring agricultural equipment and livestock, and managing global fleets and freight in supply chain operations.

On the other hand, the 212S chip, set to be released later this year, is fabricated for long-distance, fixed-location applications. As per Qualcomm, the chip excels at optimizing battery to extend device lifespan and performs tasks such as collecting telemetry data from water and fuel tanks, meters, and other infrastructure equipment. Moreover, it is well-suited for public grid monitoring, early fire detection reporting etc.

Both chips leverage the Qualcomm Aware platform, which offers real-time asset tracking and device management services in remote areas. In collaboration with NTN service provider Skylo, the Qualcomm Aware platform promises optimized integration for these chips, enhancing their functionality and performance.

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Last month, South Korea witnessed a significant slump in its tech trade with China. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, semiconductor shipments from South Korea to China experienced a sharp decline of 35.7 percent compared to the previous year.

Notably, the memory chip trade took the hardest hit, plunging by 53.1 percent, primarily due to sluggish demand in China. This decline comes amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions, which have had a profound impact on the chip supply chain landscape in Asia.

South Korea, a prominent player in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, faced a considerable setback in its exports to mainland China and Hong Kong. The ICT exports, encompassing semiconductors, displays, and smartphones, witnessed a staggering drop of over 30 percent in May compared to the same period last year.

These figures underscore the challenges faced by the tech trade between South Korea and China, with ramifications for both countries. The geopolitical tensions have prompted a reassessment of supply chain dynamics in the region, leading to disruptions in the flow of crucial technology components. The decline in the tech trade, especially in semiconductors, between China and South Korea may be indicative of the impact on China’s position within the global chip supply chain.

Korean exports, encompassing items like chips, displays, and refined oil, are often regarded as key indicators of international trade trends due to their significant role within global supply chains. The latest data suggests a partial rebound in demand for Korean goods; however, overall exports continue to exhibit weakness, primarily attributed to an accumulation of chip inventories and China’s lackluster economic growth. 

China- South Korea Trade Relations:

China and South Korea’s trade relations are highly impacted by the US- China Tech War. South Korea’s semiconductor industry, led by Samsung Electronics and LG, is crucial for U.S. export control efforts against China. With China as its primary trading partner since 2003, accounting for over 60% of chip exports, and a trade-dependent economy, South Korea’s cooperation holds significant importance. The United States represents a mere 7.7% of its chip exports, amplifying the stakes for South Korea. 

In April 2023, a year-on-year analysis reveals a slight increase in China’s exports by $230 million (1.73%) from $13.3 billion to $13.6 billion between April 2022 and April 2023. However, imports from South Korea experienced a significant decline of $4.3 billion (-26%) from $16.5 billion to $12.2 billion during the same period. 

Amidst US export restrictions on advanced semiconductors and chip-making equipment, China has intensified its efforts to enhance self-sufficiency in legacy chips used in automobiles and household appliances. Consequently, the reduced information and communications technology (ICT) trade with South Korea highlights China’s focus on domestic production and self-reliance.

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A former executive at Samsung Electronics, one of South Korea’s leading tech companies, has been indicted on charges of stealing company technology to establish a rival chip factory in China. The defendant, who also worked as a vice president at SK Hynix, another prominent chipmaker, is accused of illegally obtaining Samsung’s data with the intention of constructing a copycat facility just 1.5 km away from a Samsung chip manufacturing plant in Xian, China.

Six Others Charged in Connection with Chip Technology Espionage

Prosecutors have estimated that the theft of data has resulted in losses worth at least $233 million for Samsung Electronics. This incident is viewed as a significant threat to national economic security, as South Korea’s chip industry faces intensifying competition amid the ongoing rivalry between the United States and China.

The defendant, who was arrested last month, denies the allegations made against him. The trial date is yet to be confirmed by the court handling the case. Prosecutors have also indicted six other individuals believed to be involved, including an employee from an inspection company accused of leaking Samsung’s semiconductor factory’s architectural plan.

This development comes at a time when South Korea is actively supporting its chip sector. Both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world’s top two memory chip manufacturers, have invested heavily in chip factories in China. While these companies rely on U.S. technology and equipment, approximately 40% of South Korea’s chip exports are directed to China.

Although China initially lagged behind in memory chip production, its firms have quickly caught up to South Korean competitors. Analysts estimate that the technology gap between NAND Flash chips produced by China’s YMTC and industry leaders like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix is now only two years or less.

To prevent technology leaks, South Korean companies typically develop cutting-edge chips in their home country before manufacturing them in their Chinese factories after a year or so. South Korea has been increasingly cracking down on corporate spying in recent months, as evident from the recent arrests of 77 individuals involved in 35 cases of suspected industrial espionage across various sectors.

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In a strategic move to bolster its chip business, Sony Corporation has announced its plan to acquire approximately 27 hectares (270,000 square meters) of land in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. According to reports from Bloomberg News and local media sources, the company intends to construct its second manufacturing plant in Kumamoto, with a potential investment reaching hundreds of billions of yen.

The Production is expected to begin in 2025

The primary objective behind this expansion is to accelerate Sony’s development in the competitive chip business sector and cater to the growing demand for Sony semiconductors in the global market. This move aligns with Sony Group’s previous considerations, as reported by IT Home in December last year, of building a new factory in Kumamoto Prefecture specifically for producing smartphone image sensors. The initial timeline proposed breaking ground in 2024, with production commencing as early as 2025.

Sony Semiconductor Solutions, a subsidiary of Sony Semiconductor, currently holds the top position in terms of revenue share, commanding 44% of the market. Following closely are Samsung System LSI and OMNIVISION. Together, Sony, Samsung, and OMNIVISION control almost 83% of the global smartphone image sensor market, according to IT Home.

Shimizu Terushi, president of Sony Semiconductor Solutions, acknowledged the prevailing semiconductor shortage and emphasized the significance of TSMC’s decision to establish a factory in Kumamoto. Terushi stated that this development has “increased confidence” in expanding procurement channels. Consequently, Sony’s acquisition of land in Kumamoto can be seen as a strategic measure to enhance its own production capacity and secure reserve space.

By investing in a second manufacturing plant in Kumamoto, Sony aims to fortify its position in the chip business, effectively meeting the rising demand for its high-quality semiconductors. With its continued commitment to innovation and expansion, Sony is poised to make substantial strides in the global market, further solidifying its presence as a key player in the industry.

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Microsoft is reportedly teaming up with AMD to jointly develop artificial intelligence processors. The partnership is part of Microsoft’s strategy to secure the supply of AI processor chips and explore alternatives to Nvidia’s GPU chips that currently dominate the market. The two companies are collaborating on developing an AI processor code-named “Athena,” which Microsoft is self-developing, and AMD is providing financial support.

Microsoft is working on a Chip Division with 1000 Employees

Microsoft is one of the major cloud computing service providers, and the company has invested $10 billion in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. This investment has led to increased demand for AI processors, and Microsoft’s participation in the chip industry is gradually deepening. Microsoft is building a chip division with nearly 1,000 employees, and they are working on Project Athena, which has received around $2 billion in investments from Microsoft.

Artificial intelligence is also a top priority for AMD. Lisa Su, AMD CEO, said, “We are very excited about our opportunity in artificial intelligence, which is also our highest strategic priority. We are in the very early days of the era of artificial intelligence computing.” Su also said that there is an opportunity for AMD to produce custom chips for its largest customer for use in AI data centers.

Although developing an alternative to Nvidia chips is a challenging task, Microsoft is prioritizing Project Athena, which involves developing a GPU chip for training and inference of AI models. The chip is already being tested internally and could be widely available as soon as next year.

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German security company Nitrokey recently released a report claiming that it has discovered an unrecorded feature in Qualcomm Snapdragon chips that collects and transmits user information directly to Qualcomm servers.

The feature is not dependent on the Android operating system, which means that the data is transmitted even if the operating system is not involved. Nitrokey installed a Google-free version of Android on a Sony Xperia XA2 phone equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chip and found that the data was being transmitted to the izatcloud.net server, which belongs to Qualcomm.

According to the report, Qualcomm chips collect and transmit user information, including the unique smartphone identifier, chip name, chip serial number, XTRA software version, mobile country code and mobile network code, type, and version of the carrier or operating system, device manufacturer and model, program list on the device, IP address, and other data. The data is transmitted via the insecure HTTP protocol without any additional encryption, making it accessible to virtually anyone who can read the unique identifier data sent to Izat Cloud.

Unencrypted data transmission from Qualcomm chips

This feature affects approximately 30% of phones worldwide, including Android phones and iPhones that use Qualcomm communication modules. Nitrokey’s conclusion in the blog post is that Qualcomm’s customized AMSS firmware takes priority over any operating system and, because it uses the HTTP protocol, a unique device signature can be created based on the collected data, which can be accessed by third parties.

Qualcomm responded to the report, stating that the data transmission is in compliance with the privacy policy of the XTRA service, which actually allows the company to collect the aforementioned user data. However, the fact that the data is transmitted via the insecure HTTP protocol has raised concerns about the privacy and security of user information.

This report highlights the importance of ensuring that user data is transmitted securely and in compliance with privacy policies. It also underscores the need for greater transparency from tech companies regarding the data they collect and how it is used. As more devices become connected and collect more data, it is important that users are aware of how their information is being used and have the ability to control it. Google’s recent update for developers mandates that all Android apps must now include a feature allowing users to delete their accounts and data, reflecting the increasing focus on user privacy.

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ARM China fired almost 100 employees mostly engineers after reporting a record 96% drop in its Net Profit in 2022. The majority of fired employees were from the high-performance computing (HPC) and system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs team. The company has assured that all the outgoing employees will be adequately compensated according to their tenure. 

Arm China recorded a massive drop in its profit, even after achieving an increase in its annual revenue. In 2022, the company recorded a profit of $3.2 million as compared to $79.2 million in 2021. In the same period, the revenue grew from $665 million in 2021 to $890 million in 2022. According to Reuters, the company reported a $37 million loss in foreign exchange in 2022, compared with a gain of $9 million the previous year. 

The company had a turbulent 2022, with its now-ousted CEO refusing to leave the company even after the majority voted against him. Moreover, with the ongoing US-China tech war and unfavorable political and economic conditions, the company had to go for mass layoffs to compensate for the downward trend in its profits. The mass layoffs don’t come as a surprise, as in the last few months, many American and Chinese tech companies have laid off their employees for the same reasons. 

Arm China and its management struggles

Established in 2018, Arm China is a joint venture between the British semiconductor and software design company Arm and a group of Chinese investors. The parent company Arm primarily deals with designing ARM processors that are found in almost all smartphones and software development tools. Arm plays a vital role in the world’s largest computing ecosystem and works with partners like AWS, Google, MediaTek, Qualcomm, and more that use their technology across markets and applications.

Arm sells its products and services in China through Arm China. While Arm China is the only authorized platform that can sell Arm’s products, the company is allowed to sell its own independent designs and products apart from Arm, in the Chinese market.

The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group which owns ARM also has a minority stake in Arm China. In 2018, SoftBank Group sold the majority stake in Arm China to a group of investors who have ties with the Chinese government. This led to management and control issues as Arm China’s Ex-Chairman and CEO Allen Wu declared that Arm China was independent of its parent company. He said that Arm China was a stand-alone entity and would soon go for an independent public offering. 

Even after the majority of directors voted against him, CEO Wu refused to hand over control of the company. Finally, the Shenzen government, the home government of the company had to intervene to remove Wu from his position.

Wu still holds a 16% stake in the company and said that his removal should be seen as the parent company Softbank’s strategy to regain control of Arm China. He further added that if Softbank regains control over Arm China, then the sovereignty, technological self-sufficiency and supply chain security of China would be under threat. Arm refuted this claim by stating that the company’s intellectual property rights had nothing to do with internal management changes. 

Arm’s vice president of external communications Phil Hughes said that Arm China was performing well and the company was expected to grow in the coming years.  He further added that the new management team had quickly restored confidence in the China ecosystem, and the company had put the previous management issues behind it. Now Arm is only focused on expanding its technology into the Chinese market.

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Last week Japan and Netherlands decided to join the US and agreed to abide by the additional sanctions on semiconductor export to China. 

However, Semiconductor Equipments and Material International (SEMI), an industry association that includes the world’s top semiconductor designing, manufacturing, and selling companies, stated that the curbs laid on China were not strict enough.

According to SEMI, if US allies like Japan and Netherlands did not levy tougher curbs, then the sanctions would be ineffective.  The industry group has openly sided with the US in the US-China Tech war and said that it had a vested interest in the US and welcomed the additional sanction agreement on China. 

Though the exact details of the agreement are undisclosed, SEMI believes that China will keep on growing in the semiconductor industry unless the allies come together and agree to wider control and restrictions on Chinese fabrication facilities.

Semiconductor Fabrication facilities or fabs are factories that make integrated circuits. Semi said that as long as Chinese fabs are running, the country has a strong chance to manufacture advanced chips. It further added that allies need to restrict their engineers and others from supporting China’s high-end fabs.

The current sanctions levied by the Biden administration ban the export of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, technology, and personnel to China. American nationals are not allowed to partner with or work at Chinese semiconductor companies. 

Japan and Netherlands have agreed to restrictions on semiconductor export to China. Essentially, these two countries have agreed not to export advanced chip-making equipment and cutting-edge technology to China. However, older technologies and equipment are still exported to China. 

China is the largest semiconductor market in the world and aims to be a global leader in advanced technology and Artificial Intelligence. With its current technology, China can make chips that can be used in low to mid-level industries like washing machines, air conditioners, automobiles, and smart home appliances. However, it still relies on the US and its allies to make advanced chips used in weaponry, Artificial Intelligence, and Cloud computing. 

Though Japan and Netherlands have agreed to additional restrictions on China, the allies are not in favor of a complete ban as it will adversely affect their economies which are largely dependent on technology exports to countries like China. 

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Samsung Electronics Co. proposed investing about $200 billion to develop 11 new chip factories in the US over the next two decades, according to records filed with the state of Texas on Friday. It is to be noted that over 20,000 Americans are employed by Samsung, which has more than 40 years of manufacturing history in the US.

The petitions that the South Korean tech behemoth submitted to the Taylor and Manor school districts, asking for tax exemptions for the prospective building of 11 new chip production facilities in the state—nine in Taylor and two in Austin—describe the anticipated investment.

Samsung is now constructing a $17 billion plant in Taylor, close to its existing massive chip factory in Austin. It was announced in November last year.

The largest memory chip manufacturer in the world has not indicated if it is determined to invest the suggested $192.1 billion.

Samsung declared, “We currently do not have specific plans to build at this time, however, the Chapter 313 applications to the State of Texas are part of a long-term planning process of Samsung to evaluate the viability of potentially building additional fabrication plants in the United States,”

According to the Texas Comptroller’s office, Chapter 313 “allows public school districts to offer tax incentives for businesses that invest in their communities.” Additionally, it is due to expire at the end of the year, so companies must reapply to continue receiving the tax benefits.

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, endorsed the idea. “This potential investment will bring billions of additional capital to continue growing our world-class business climate and diverse, highly skilled workforce,” he said in a statement.

The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America (CHIPS) Act was also recommended by Abbott to be passed by the US Congress in order to assist the US in establishing “a secure semiconductor supply chain, which is vital to our nation’s economy and national security.” The CHIPS Act aims to strengthen supply chains, increase US chip manufacturing capacity, and eventually restore the country’s manufacturing expertise.

In order to increase manufacturing capacity and address a persistent chip shortage, Samsung urged Washington in March to grant international chipmakers an equal opportunity to apply for state incentives under the legislation.

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As expected, AMD has officially announced its new Ryzen 6000 CPUs at CES 2022. The chips are launched as the successor of the Ryzen 5000 lineup of laptop chips that were made official last year at CES.

The newly announced laptop processors are claimed to offer up to 1.3 times faster processing, two times better gaming performance, and up to 24 hours of battery life.

The company is offering the new AMD Ryzen 6000 chips in H-series (with 35W and 45) for devices aimed at powerful tasks, gaming, or creative work, and U-series (15W to 28W) that are aimed at thin and light devices.

They use a new Zen 3+ CPU architecture and 6nm manufacturing process and the integrated graphics processors have been swapped from the years-old Vega architecture for the modern RDNA2 architecture used in Radeon 6000-series graphics cards.

The flagship offering in the lineup is Ryzen 9 6980HX which packs eight cores, 16 threads, 3.3GHz clock speed that can be boosted to 5.0GHz, and 12 GPU cores at 2.4GHz. All of the Ryzen 9 and Ryzen 7 models include Radeon 680M GPUs with 12 GPU cores, while the Ryzen 5 models use weaker Radeon 660M GPUs with 6 GPU cores.

It comes with support for PCI Express 4.0 for fast SSDs along with DDR5 RAM for more memory bandwidth. Also, all the chips in this lineup include a Microsoft Pluton security processor which is intended to make Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs more secure.

These new chips come with support for USB4 with data transfer rates at up to 40Gbps, HDMI 2.1 with support for high frame rates and VRR, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth LE 5.2. As for the battery life, the company is claiming a maximum of 24 hours of battery life.

Laptops powered by the new AMD Ryzen 6000 series chips are set to be announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022 from brands like Acer, Asus, Alienware, Lenovo, Razer, and HP. The first set of devices is expected to go on sale from next month.

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Apple is among the very few companies that design their own chips and the Cupertino-based technology giant has been making A-series chips for devices like iPhones and iPads.

Last year, the company introduced the M1 chip under Apple Silicon, based on the ARM architecture for its Mac devices. This year, Apple introduced two more such chips — M1 Pro and M1 Max, further boosting the performance.

If the latest report coming from Bloomberg is to be believed, then Apple is planning to open a new office in Southern California with dozens of engineers that are yet to be hired by the company. The job post listing reveals that Apple is looking for people with experience in modem chips and other types of wireless semiconductors.

In the next stage, the company seems to be all set to start designing its own 5G modem chips for the iPhones. For this, Apple spent $1 billion in 2019 by acquiring Intel’s smartphone modem chip business.

The 5G modem chip from Apple is expected to be manufactured by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) which is also manufacturing other chips from the technology giant. Based on the previous reports, Apple’s in-house 5G modem could be launched as soon as 2023.

It is speculated that once Apple starts making its own 5G modem chips, it will start designing its own Wi-Fi chips for which the company is currently dependent on Broadcom and Skyworks Solutions.

While Apple will be reducing its reliance on these vendors that offer chips to the company by making its own versions in-house, it will also be increasing its dependence on TSMC for manufacturing all these chips as Apple doesn’t have manufacturing capabilities. This could backfire because of the geopolitical tensions between China and Taiwan as well as China and the United States.

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The Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai Motor revealed earlier this week that the company is planning on developing its own chips. This move arrives amid the global chip shortage as the company seeks to reduce its reliance on chipmakers.

For those unaware, the world is facing a shortage of semiconductors that has impacted various industries across the globe, including the automobile industry. The shortage even led to certain carmakers halting production entirely due to supply constraints. Now, the South Korean automobile maker, Hyundai, is apparently seeking to develop its own chips to cut off its dependence on chipmakers. The news comes after the company saw the “toughest months” in August and September 2021 (Via Reuters).

The company’s COO Jose Munoz stated that the worst has passed for the industry chip shortage. He further added that “But also in our case, we want to be able to develop our own chips within the group, so we are a little bit less dependent in a potential situation like this. This takes a lot of investment and time, but this is something we’re working on.”

The senior official said that the company is also aiming on delivering vehicles at the level of its original business plan in the fourth quarter of this year. Furthermore, the South Korean automobile manufacturer is also on track to produce electric cars in the US in 2022. Hyundai Motor is one among many other car brands like Tesla and Toyota that faced supply constraints amid the global semiconductor shortage.

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General Motors and Ford Motors have confirmed that the companies are temporarily shutting down production or extending the shutdown at several plants in North America because of the ongoing chip shortage.

General Motors plant closures range from a week or two to several weeks for plans that are already shut down temporarily due to the parts disruption. Next week, the company plans to restart the production of midsize pickups after it was halted for about two weeks.

On the other hand, Ford has updated its timeline to include additional downtime at two of its plans in Illinois and Missouri through next week. It is also shutting down its Flat Rock Assembly plant in Michigan for a week, starting from Monday. With these new changes, the vehicles impacted include Explorer, Lincoln Aviator SUVs, Ford Mustang, and Transit Vans.

Semiconductor materials are key components used in the vehicle’s infotainment as well as power steering and braking system among others. Automakers are facing issues related to the supply of semiconductor components as several plans have been impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic while demand is on the rise.

Ford had previously said that the company expects chip shortage to lower its earnings by $1 billion to $2.5 billion in 2021. On the other hand, General Motors is expected to earn $10 billion to $11 billion this year. This forecast factors in the potential impact of the chip shortage, including a hit of $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion to its free cash flow.

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Apple recently launched its first chipset under Apple Silicon — M1 and the company have already started transitioning from the Intel-based chips to its own ARM-based processors. While the user’s response has been pretty good, we keep hearing about issues facing the new M1-powered devices as time goes by.

In the latest development, security researchers have discovered a first browser side-channel attack that is JavaScript-free and it appears that the new Apple M1 chips may be vulnerable to the attack.

Researchers at Cornell University started with the goal of exploring the effectiveness of disabling or restricting JavaScript for mitigating attacks. During the research, they created a new side-channel proof of concept in CSS and HTML which could open the door to “microarchitectural website fingerprinting attacks.” It works even if script execution is completely blocked on a browser.

The vulnerability allows attackers to eavesdrop on a user’s web activity by leveraging features in the target’s packet sequence. Not only can it bypass JavaScript but it also disregards privacy technologies like VPNs or TOR.

The team tested the attack on Intel Core, AMD Ryzen, Samsung Exynos, and Apple M1 chips and while almost all CPU architectures are susceptible to the attack, the researchers claim that Apple M1 and Samsung Exynos chips are more vulnerable to their exploits.

This is the second vulnerability found to affect Apple M1 chip that has surfaced in recent weeks. Last month, researchers discovered a mysterious malware strain called Silver Sparrow that had the ability to run natively on Mac devices with M1 chips.

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Huawei has been put on Entity List by the United States in May last year but the restrictions on the Chinese giant have tightened a few months ago, making it almost impossible for the company to make or procure chipsets or other necessary components.

But now, if the report from Financial Times is to be believed, then Huawei may be planning a dedicated chip factory in Shanghai, China to overcome the restrictions imposed by the United States government.

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However, it’s noteworthy that the report adds that the chips plant by Huawei in China would be only for the core telecom infrastructure business and not the smartphone business. The report claims that the plant would be run by Shanghai IC R&D Center and the company would consider it experimental until the chips can be used commercially.

The chips would be manufactured using the 45-nanometer (45nm) process and next year and towards late 2021, the company will be moving manufacturing to 28nm chips. It could also start making chips for Smart TVs and IoT devices. It plans to make 20nm chips by 2022 and would make almost every 5G cellular hardware.

The smartphone business from Huawei is also getting some relief as more and more companies are being granted special licenses by the United States to continue doing business with Huawei as long as the components are used for the core 5G telecom business. Many companies, including Intel, AMD, Samsung Display, and others have received the license to supply components to the Chinese giant.

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Oppo has just confirmed that it will be developing its own custom made mobile processors for its smartphones. The Chinese tech giant will be working with key suppliers for this endeavor and has already begun its efforts in the field.

According to Liu Bo, President of Oppo’s China business, “We have to tackle the chip technology and make the technology the crucial driving force for our future growth.” The senior executive revealed this information after rumors had been going around for weeks, while also mentioning the numerous challenges the company would face. Liu even mentioned that the company will start by working with key suppliers to design and develop its own smartphone chipsets.

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At the moment, Oppo’s primary partners and chip suppliers include the US chip giant, Qualcomm, Taiwan based MediaTek, and South Korea’s Samsung. The chips from these companies can be found in Oppo handsets, although, the further news regarding its plans on developing its chip system has yet to be divulged. The new custom made chips will also help differentiate the company’s products over other companies that utilize more readily available chips in the market.

Notably, the company has been hiring chip engineers and other high level executives from top chipmakers like Qualcomm, MediaTek, and more since 2019. This is indicative of its plans on proprietary chip technology. Interestingly, this news arrives mere weeks after its rival, Huawei lost its chip supply from TSMC due to recent US sanctions. So we can assume that the event kickstarted the race for custom made chips even more for Oppo, so as to avoid complications like this later on.

UP NEXT: TSMC confident in replacing Huawei orders through other customers after US sanctions

(Via)

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Huawei had recently lost its chip supply from TSMC after the US government enforced new regulations. Since then, various rumors have surfaced regarding the Chinese tech giant finding alternatives, with MediaTek being a viable option. Now, MediaTek has officially denied a few of these claims, which had the company circumventing US regulations.

For those unaware, a Japanese news reporting agency recently claimed that MediaTek will be supplying Huawei with TSMC chips indirectly. The chipmaker would’ve bought the chips from TSMC and rebranded them as their own before selling them to Huawei. This has now been officially denied by MediaTek that also offered clarification regarding the matter.

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According to a spokesperson, MediaTek will not be violating any laws or bypassing regulations to supply Huawei with TSMC chips. The report has been confirmed to be false and that the chipmaker will follow relevant global trade laws and regulations. In other words, the company will not be making a special case for Huawei or circumventing policies for any of its customers.

While the chip manufacturer will not be buying TSMC chips for the Chinese smartphone vendor, it is expected to become its biggest mobile processor supplier. At the moment, Huawei is negotiating with MediaTek for 5G chipsets. The HiSilicon Kirin processors were present in 80 percent of Huawei’s handsets but this may soon change drastically as the company could adopt Dimensity 5G chips in the near future. Various reports have again claimed special deals or massive orders being placed, although, none have been confirmed so far.

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(Source)

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According to a new rumor, Huawei is preparing for the prolonged disputes between the US and China and is currently in works to replace US equipment. The Chinese tech giant recently lost its chip supply from TSMC due to US sanctions and is now, reportedly, looking into alternatives from South Korea.

Sources close to the matter revealed that Huawei is investigating whether or not to use US technologies against partners in its supply chain. For those unaware, the US had enforced sanctions which targetted US based technology that was being used by foreign companies like TSMC, this essentially had Huawei’s supply cut off. So in simpler terms, the smartphone vendor is checking to confirm whether US technology was actually used in their semiconductor equipment.

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Furthermore, Huawei is also visiting various semiconductor based companies in South Korea. These manufacturers could potentially serve as alternatives within its supply chain, although, the details of these visitations are currently unknown. However, the timing is quite suggestive of talks already taking place for a new deal.

At the moment, Huawei already has a massive inventory of chips that will last for up to 2 years. But the company is also heavily investing in the semiconductor industry, even encouraging Chinese companies to step up and rival the US. The semiconductor field is integral to Huawei’s product and service offerings, so while the US sanctions do hamper its operations, the company is actively working on working through the issue.

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(Via)

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Huawei Technologies has built up its reserves for important US made Chips, which will last for up to 2 years. According to sources, the move was made by the Chinese tech giant to safeguard its operations against US sanctions.

Sources revealed that the ample reserves were primarily for server grade processors made by Intel and Xilinx for programable chipsets. These processors are apparently the ‘most essential components’ that Huawei uses for its base stations and emerging cloud business. For those unaware, the Chinese vendor is a major player in the 5G networking infrastructure and equipment industry and is also developing cloud based services, similar to Amazon.

The recent sanctions from the US government had cut off the chip supply to Huawei, but it seems that the company had already prepared in advance. It currently has an inventory that will last for 1.5 or up to 2 years. However, analysts have claimed that the reliance on stockpiled chips could end up hindering the company’s competitiveness.

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Huawei had recently revealed that it had spent 167.7 billion Yuan ($23.45 billion) in stockpiling chipsets, components, and more in 2019, which is a significant jump of 73 percent from 2018. In particular, it seems that Huawei was more focused on building reserves for programmable chips from Xilinx, since it’s difficult to replace the processors at the moment, even from its own chip designer, HiSilicon.

Similarly, the company has also increased stocks for memory components like NAND and DRAM from Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and Kioxia during the same period. So, judging by how this looks, it would seem that Huawei is preparing for a battle of attrition against the US government. The impacts of the new US regulations will likely impact the Chinese OEMs operations, but only time will tell.

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(Via)

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Xiaomi’s chip-making plans may have taken a backseat in the past couple of years, but the company is still determined to improve its position in the industry. In this regard, Xiaomi has taken a strategic stake of roughly 6% in the chip designer company, VeriSilicon Holdings Co Ltd. With this investment, Xiaomi is now the second-largest external shareholder of the company. 

The investment was made by a fund run by Xiaomi in June and was revealed in a filing to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) published online last Thursday. It’s worth noting that China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, a nation-level fund for the domestic semiconductor industry is its largest external shareholder.

VeriSilicon is based in Shanghai and has over 700 employees with 5 R&D centers in the US and in China and 10 sales offices worldwide. Founded in 2001, it is a Silicon Platform as a Service company which acts as a contractor to other semiconductor companies.

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History has shown us that making chips is not an easy business and Xiaomi sure had its share of struggles. After establishing its semiconductor division back in 2014, it took three years for Xiaomi to release its independent processor called the Surge S1. After using it in just one model, we haven’t heard much about its chip making plans. Earlier this year, we received a short update from one of the Xiaomi executives that the second generation Surge S2 chip was still in development but was delayed due to unexpected issues. Later it was said that Xiaomi was focusing its semiconductor business for IoT devices. However, since then we haven’t heard much from this division. 

Processors are the heart of any electronic device, including smartphones. And US based Qualcomm rules this market which puts many Chinese smartphone companies at risk. So it is no surprise that China is trying hard to strengthen its position in this industry to support its tech companies.

The Chinese semiconductor industry is growing pretty quickly. For example, China’s Huawei Hisilicon unit is doing well, with its flagship Kirin chipset capable enough to take on Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon models. Even Xiaomi backed Huami has developed its own Huangshan No.1 chip for wearables based on RISC-V architecture. 

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(Source)

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Samsung Electronics said Friday, July 5, it expects operating profit to tumble 56% for the second quarter of this year in the face of a weakening chip market. The world’s largest maker of smartphones and memory chips has enjoyed record profits in recent years despite a series of setbacks, but is now struggling, with chip prices falling as global supply increases while demand weakens.

Unpredictability surrounding the trade war between the U.S. and China — where Samsung earns the bulk of its revenue — has sustained a downturn in the chip industry as smartphone demand tapers off and the pace of datacenter construction decelerates. This puts the Huawei situation at the epicenter of this entire problem. It’s a real shame, but its gets worse.

“Memory prices are likely to keep sliding due to the ongoing trade war,” said Song Myung-sup, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities Co., adding that shipments should be stable as Chinese customers who haven’t received products from U.S. chipmakers are likely to increase orders. This isn’t boding well for most chipmakers unfortunately.

On the bright side, things aren’t all bad for good old Samsung. Samsung’s smartphone business could get a boost if the Huawei ban remains. HI Investment & Securities predicts that Samsung may sell 37 million more smartphones a year (which will take some pressure off the other divisions too as they’ll use some Samsung chips).

UP NEXT: Samsung Galaxy S10 sales between March and May surpass the Galaxy S9’s

(Source)

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Chip makers Qualcomm and Mediatek announced towards the end of 2016 that their new flagships chips will be built on the 10nm node. However, Intel has announced that it will start trial production of 7nm chips this year.

For decades, Intel has based its chip creation on the words of its co-founder Gordon Moore who said that “the number of transistors incorporated in a chip will approximately double every 24 months”. The statement which is now referred to as Moore’s Law has seen chip manufacturers nearly double the performance and efficiency of a processor roughly every 2 years.

However, they discovered that the law couldn’t be applied  any further during the making of 14nm-based chips as it was pretty difficult to fit more transistors on a smaller area. Now, the interpretation of Moore’s Law has to do with the reduced cost of transistors.

Intel says the 7nm is still in a testing phase and the result from the trial production will help them invest in large factories that can begin to produce chips based on the 7nm technology. They have also announced that they will be returning to the tradition of two new chips per manufacturing cycle instead of three like they did with their 14nm based chips (Broadwell, Skylake, and Kaby Lake).

READ MORE: Intel Compute Cards can Prevent Smart Devices from Becoming Obsolete

The new 7nm chips, apart from being smaller and more energy efficient will also be faster and can also lead to laptops with longer battery life as Intel plans to use new materials such as gallium-nitride.

Intel is not the only one developing 7nm chips. TSMC announced last year it was going to start 7nm trials this year and start taking orders in 2018. Samsung on the other hand announced a week ago that production of its 7nm chips will begin in early 2018.

(Sources: 1 & 2)

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TSMC should not sound strange to people anymore. The world’s largest independent semiconductor foundry probably made the chip inside the phone you are holding right now. If you own an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, there’s a chance the version of the new A10 Fusion chip in it was made by TSMC.

The company, at an event has unveiled its roadmap for the coming years.

10nm Process Starting by Year End

Senior Officials have said that the company will be switching to 10nm process by year end. The new FinFET process will allow for a 50% reduction in the size of a chip and increase performance by 50% (or 40% reduction in power consumption). This news correlates with yesterday’s report on Mediatek’s new Helio X30 which says mass production should begin early next year.

Trial Production of 7nm Process in 2017. Orders Starts In April

The 10nm process has been reported to be a short term node according to GlobalFoundries who announced their new 7nm process recently. TSMC’s 7nm process will allow it to offer chips with greatly increased power efficiency. The performance increase will be around 15% and power consumption will see a decrease of 35%.

READ MORE: Xiaomi Co-Founder Confirms Existence of Mi 5s Plus

The explanation given for the jump not being as much as that of the 10nm process is that there is usually a difference between the foundry’s marketed process and the actual physical process. Roughly speaking, the 10nm process should be equal to Intel’s 14nm process and the 7nm process should be equal to Intel’s 10nm process.

Source: wccftech.com

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Mediatek chipset made increasingly being used by Android-based smartphones. Not only at a lower level but also began to explore the upper class because they are already qualified.

If talking about the 4 core processors in smartphones, most people is always thinking about the popular chipset products from Qualcomm or Nvidia. However Mediatek also want to show off in the mobile chipset lineup.

This was evidenced by MT6589 chipset, in which already existing quad core processor that has 1.2 GHz clock-speed which is ready to compete with Qualcomm and Nvidia.

“The performance we can compete, even based on the results of the experiment MT6589 is a quadcore processor cooler than most others,” claims Finbarr Moynihan, General Manager of International Sales and Marketing Mediatek.

In an experiment, Mediatek ‘punish’ a number of quad-core processors, including the MT6589 their products.

From the results of these experiments are shown Mediatek chip is not much temperature rise at full load, while its competitors chip temperature increased significantly.

It is said that that was one of the considerations for the Acer Liquid E2 which using Mediatek quad-core chipset, this Android phones is offers just only $200 USD.

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