These are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories in the week of January 15-19:
US fears Chinese chip dump as China faces capacity overkill
US Congress urges the Biden administration to impose high tariffs to prevent China from flooding the country with mature process chips. US export control measures against China include restricting advanced process equipment to China and restrictions on producing chips below 7 nanometers. Reports from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Reuters, Bloomberg, and other foreign media outlets have expressed concerns in recent months that the surge in China's mature process production may dominate the global market.
Huawei chip design arm HiSilicon launches RISC-V MCUs
Through a chipmaking affiliate, Huawei recently released RISC-V architecture-based MCUs, advancing into the edge AI device market. Huawei has two chip design teams under the company name HiSilicon: the Shenzhen-based team is nicknamed the "Big HiSilicon," which mainly develops chips supporting Huawei's internal needs, and the Shanghai-based one is called "Small HiSilicon," whose chips are available to outside customers.
Report says Intel jumping the gun on High-NA EUV lithography entry
A recent report by Semianalysis has questioned Intel's timing for introducing High-NA lithography. Intel recently made a high-profile announcement that it has received the first batch of ASML's High-Numerical Aperture (High-NA) extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) lithography machines, the EXE:5000 series at its research wafer fab in Oregon, USA. It is expected to start assembling the next-generation lithography equipment for process development.
TSMC reportedly achieves smooth implementation of GAA for 2nm process
TSMC is on schedule to implement its 2-nanometer node with the Gate-All-Around (GAA) technology, according to its supply chain partners, who said the Paoshan P1 fab at Hsinchu Science Park will start installing equipment in April at the earliest. The P2 fab and Kaohsiung fab will start producing 2nm chips with GAA technology in 2025. TSMC has also given the green light for building new fabs in Paoshan and Kaohsiung.
TSMC to see all fab capacity utilization improve in 1Q24
According to sources at semiconductor equipment companies, TSMC's fab capacity utilization rates will increase across the board in the first quarter of 2024. Already reflecting the upward trend in customer orders is TSMC's 14.4% increase in revenue for the fourth quarter over the previous quarter, the sources indicated. The pure-play foundry achieved its second-highest consolidated revenue of NT$2.16 trillion (US$68.7 billion) for 2023, a mere 4.5% decrease from the previous year. This figure surpassed company expectations.
CES 2024: Competition between MediaTek and Qualcomm extends from products to ecosystems
The scale of CES 2024 has further expanded compared to the past, with Qualcomm and MediaTek showcasing their full range of technological solutions. The two firms had different end applications as Qualcomm emphasized advancements in the automotive electronics field, while MediaTek brought a complete Wi-Fi 7 solution and collaborative products. Nevertheless, the content displayed by both parties was relatively consistent, covering various domains such as smartphones, PCs, automotive, AIoT, and more.
China sooner or later will 100% indigenize smartphone OLED panel supply chain
Thanks to Chinese smartphone vendors' effort to prioritize domestic procurement of key components, the local supply chain of organic light emitting diodes (OLED) has grown significantly in recent years. BOE, Tianma Microelectronics, and Visionox will increase their soft OLED shipment in 2024, and it is just a matter of time before China's smartphone brands have their OLED screens 100% provided by domestic suppliers. Foldable smartphones have gained popularity and have boosted the business of related component manufacturers in the supply chain.
