1. Infineon’s new plant started: 5 billion euros invested to produce power and analog devices
According to IT House, Infineon said last Thursday that it has won approval to invest 5 billion euros to start building a semiconductor factory in Dresden, Germany, which will be put into production in 2026. This is the largest investment in Infineon’s history.
Infineon said the new plant will produce power semiconductors and analog/mixed-signal components, and that annual revenue at full capacity will be comparable to the investment. The German Economy Ministry granted an early start to the project, which allows construction to begin before the European Commission completes its inspection of legal subsidies.
2. Microchip plans to invest $880 million to expand silicon carbide and silicon chip production capacity
According to Microchip’s official website, the company plans to invest $880 million in the next few years to expand its silicon carbide and silicon production capacity at its production base in Colorado Springs, USA.
As an important stage of expansion, Microchip will expand SiC production capacity in the Colorado Springs park for applications such as automobiles, electric vehicles, grid infrastructure, green energy, and aerospace defense. The park is currently producing 6-inch wafers, and Microchip’s expansion will allow it to upgrade to 8-inch wafers.
3. The DDI chips for vehicles restarted the purchase, and the destocking came to an end
According to Taiwan’s Electronic Times quoted by Science and Technology Board Daily, with the introduction of a large number of automotive panels, the demand for automotive display driver ICs (DDI) continues to rise. Although traditional automotive DDIs have also adjusted their inventory, industry manufacturers generally point out that short The inventory depletion has ended, and major supply chain customers are about to restart their purchases.
4. Winbond: The first quarter is the bottom of memory prices, and the demand for automobiles is stable
According to China Taiwan Business Times, memory manufacturer Winbond Electronics held a law conference on the 17th. General Manager Chen Peiming said that the oversupply in the memory market still exists, and prices continue to fall but are now at the bottom and will improve in the second half of the year.
In the DRAM market, due to the decline in market demand and high inventory, Winbond Radio’s mid-plant cut production by 30%-40%, and capital expenditure will be strictly controlled in the future. Consumer demand remained weak, but automotive and industrial demand remained stable. In the NOR Flash market, the recovery of PC demand is slow, but due to the increase in orders from overseas customers, the market may begin to recover in the second quarter. The demand for high-capacity NOR Flash such as automotive, industrial, 5G base stations, and servers is stable.
5. It is rumored that Samsung is developing next-generation custom memory chips for AI applications such as ChatGPT
According to TechwWeb citing foreign media reports, Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer, is developing next-generation custom memory chips for large-scale AI applications such as ChatGPT.
Since the beginning of this year, orders for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have increased significantly. At that time, foreign media also mentioned that compared with other DRAMs, high-bandwidth memory that vertically connects multiple DRAMs has significantly improved performance, but it also has a higher price, at least three times that of DRAM.
6. GlobalFoundries and Amkor will provide large-scale semiconductor packaging and testing services in Europe
A few days ago, the wafer foundry GlobalFoundries (GF) and the packaging and testing plant Amkor (Amkor) jointly announced that the two companies have established a strategic partnership to realize packaging and testing from GF wafer production to Amkor’s Porto factory in Portugal. Comprehensive EU/US supply chain for services.
GF plans to move its 300mm bump and sorting line from its Dresden facility to Amkor’s Porto facility to create the first large-scale back-end facility in Europe. GF will retain ownership of its transferred tools, processes and intellectual property in Porto. The parties also plan to cooperate in future development work in Portugal.