1. Infineon is expanding production capacity to meet the needs of the automotive industry
Infineon Technologies is expanding its production capacity to meet the growing demand for semiconductors in electric vehicles (EVs) and other automotive applications in the next decade, Automotive IC IDM said, citing China’s Taiwan Electronic Times, as quoted by Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily.
2. Bosch will transform the acquired TSI wafer fab into silicon carbide production
According to the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, Bosch recently completed the asset acquisition of TSI Semiconductor Company in Roseville, California. The new company is called Robert Bosch Semiconductor LLC. Bosch plans to invest approximately US$1.5 billion to transform the Roseville plant into a silicon carbide manufacturing plant. From 2026, the plant is expected to achieve mass production of silicon carbide devices on an 8-inch process platform.
3. The return of the strong, the butterfly effect may cause MediaTek to slash its film production in 2024
According to Kuai Technology news, an industry insider, “Mobile Chip Expert”, recently posted on Weibo that after Company H’s new mobile phone was released, MediaTek began to slash the number of wafers produced in 2024. It was really a butterfly effect.
The person also mentioned before that if there is no external interference, if 60 million 5G mobile phones can be sold next year, and the global TAM remains unchanged, MediaTek and Qualcomm will reduce the shipment of 60 million 5G mobile phone chips. After that, TSMC will also indirectly affect the reduction of 100,000 advanced process wafers, not including the reduced wafer production of supporting Wi-Fi, PMIC, etc.
4. Industry: Micron will increase NAND flash memory prices by about 10% in September
According to SemiMedia news, according to industry insiders, following Samsung’s increase in NAND prices in August, Micron has also begun to increase NAND Flash wafer contract prices by about 10% since September. In early August, there were rumors in the supply chain that Samsung had notified customers of its intention to increase the price of 512Gb NAND flash wafers to US$1.60, an increase of approximately 15% from the US$1.40 price in early 2023.
It is reported that NAND flash memory module factories in mainland China have also suspended quotations and orders for August, and will increase module prices by 8%-10% based on Samsung’s quotations. Industry insiders said that this price increase will gradually push the price of NAND flash memory back to the manufacturing cost line. Inquiries reportedly became active after NAND flash memory spot market prices were recently pushed up by wafer contract prices.
5. It is said that NXP was attacked by hackers, resulting in the leakage of user information
According to Zhongguancun Online, network security expert Troy Hunt posted on social media platforms that Dutch chip manufacturer NXP Semiconductors suffered a cyber attack, resulting in the leakage of user information. NXP has sent emails to affected users.
NXP said its current investigation indicates that the leaked data was not used for fraudulent purposes. However, NXP did not announce how many users were affected. NXP noted that the information that may have been exposed includes: first and last name, email address, country, city, postal code and address, work phone number, contact mobile number, company name as well as job title [job title] and preferred communication method.
6. TSMC’s revenue in August increased by 6.2% month-on-month to NT$188.69 billion.
TSMC released August performance data on the 8th, with revenue of approximately NT$188.69 billion, a month-on-month increase of 6.2% and a year-on-year decrease of 13.5%. TSMC’s cumulative revenue in the first eight months was NT$1,355.78 billion, a decrease of 5.2% from the same period in 2022.
7. UMC’s revenue in August ended its fifth consecutive month-on-month rise, emphasizing the demand for AI
According to China Taiwan Business Times, the semiconductor supply chain continues to adjust inventory. The revenue of the major wafer foundry UMC in August was NT$18.952 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 25.23%, a slight decrease of 0.59% month-on-month, and the suspension of single-month revenue for 5 consecutive months. With monthly growth, the legal person predicts that UMC’s third-quarter revenue will decline slightly from the previous quarter.
Although the overall environment in the second half of the year is not as expected, UMC emphasized that its strong leading position in special processes, such as embedded high-voltage processes, will continue to maintain full resilience in the 22/28 nanometer business. At the same time, the company is also accelerating its development to provide customers with what they need. silicon interposer technology and production capacity to meet the needs of the emerging AI market. UMC recently confirmed that it will expand its monthly production capacity of silicon interposers from the current 3 kwpm to 6 kwpm. The market also reported that UMC will plan to further expand its production capacity.