1. Mature process wafer foundry “hot shutdown” reduces production
According to the Science and Technology Board Daily citing Taiwan’s Economic Daily, the market conditions for mature semiconductor manufacturing processes are weak, and the price discounts of wafer foundries are not effective. Samsung, Key Foundry and SK Hynix System IC and other wafer foundries’ recent capacity utilization rates are only between Between 40% and 50%. In order to further reduce costs, major foundry manufacturers led by Samsung began to initiate thermal shutdowns for some mature process production lines, and spread to UMC, World Advanced, and PSMC.
Hot shutdown refers to the fact that the industry shuts down some idle production equipment in response to sluggish demand, but the equipment is still in a state of continuous power supply, and the production line personnel will not allow the machine to be arranged for delivery.
2. It is rumored that TSMC will take the lead in reducing prices by 30%, and will continue to reduce prices in the second half of the year
According to fast technology news, it was previously reported that TSMC has started to reduce prices in disguise since July, mainly for analog IC chips involved in the foundry of 8-inch wafers. Other manufacturers, such as Samsung, UMC, SMIC, and Jinghe also cut prices to varying degrees, but each company’s price reductions vary, and the preferential methods they provide are also different.
Some foundries require to send more wafers after a certain amount of wafers have been cast, or to reduce the price when a certain amount is reached, and some are to reduce the cost of photomasks. However, some driver IC design companies pointed out that no matter what solutions the foundry provides, the key point is to reduce production costs. There is not much competition in advanced technology foundry, and the overall demand is stable, but the competition for mature technology is fierce, and there is still a chance for price reduction in the second half of the year.
3. It is rumored that Samsung’s NAND flash memory inventory at the end of the year has normalized to the level of 6-8 weeks
According to the Science and Technology Board Daily News on the 12th, according to Korean media citing industry sources, Samsung has formulated a production plan and aims to normalize NAND inventory by the end of the year, which is 6-8 weeks. At the beginning of this year, Samsung’s NAND inventory level exceeded 20 weeks, and the highest level soared to 28 weeks, but it has recently dropped to 18 weeks.
It is reported that Samsung’s wafer input in the second half of the year will be reduced by 10% compared with the first half of the year. The main target of the current production reduction is 128-layer 6th generation V-NAND, which has a large inventory.
4. Applied Materials’ revenue and profit in the third fiscal quarter decreased slightly year-on-year
On August 17, semiconductor equipment and materials company Applied Materials announced its financial report for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023 ending July 30, 2023. Revenue was US$6.43 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1%; net profit was US$1.56 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1%. A decrease of 3%; the gross profit margin was 46.3%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.
Looking forward to the fourth fiscal quarter, Applied Materials expects net sales of approximately US$6.51 billion, with a fluctuation range of US$400 million.
5. As many as 780 cases of imported CPUs hidden in modified vehicles inspected by customs
According to Kuai Technology news, according to the “Customs Release” official account, recently, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Customs affiliated to Gongbei Customs seized a suspected case of using a cross-border bus to hide 780 CPUs in a hidden compartment. When the customs officer inspected a cross-border passenger car entering Guangdong and Macao, he found that the image was abnormal, and it was suspected of being modified for concealment and smuggling.
After further inspection of the car body, customs officers seized a large number of brand-new CPUs totaling 780 in the hidden compartment above the engine on the front of the car, with a preliminary estimated value of over one million. At present, the case has been further dealt with according to regulations.
6. Insufficient supply of sensors, top-of-the-line iPhone 15 series or delayed launch
According to TechWeb citing foreign media reports, judging from previous news, the Apple iPhone 15 series will be released on September 12, local time, and will start accepting reservations on the 15th three days later, and will be officially launched on September 22. The highest-end iPhone 15 Pro Max in the series may not be launched together, and will be delayed by 3-4 weeks.
Analyst reports suggest that the launch of the iPhone 15 Pro Max could be delayed until October 6-13 due to Sony’s inability to supply image sensors in time. As the highest-end in the series, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will exclusively have a periscope lens, which can achieve 5x to 6x optical zoom, which is higher than the 3x zoom of the iPhone 14 Pro series.