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Company Trend (September 11)
Infineon unveils the worlds first 12-inch GaN wafer technology!
Recently, Infineon, a semiconductor giant, announced a milestone achievement that shocked the industry - it has successfully developed the worlds first 12-inch GaN wafer, and plans to unveil the mysterious wafer at electronica Munich in November 2024.
According to its official news on September 11th, Infineon succeeded in developing 12-inch GaN wafer technology in its advanced power fab at Villach, Austria, using its existing mature 12-inch silica-based production line via a well-designed integrated pilot line. At present, all cutting-edge processor chips are manufactured on 12-inch wafers while the power chip industry mainly uses 8-inch wafers. GaN is a substitute for silicon in chip manufacturing. GaN chip is popular due to its efficiency, speed, light weight and good work performance at high temperature and high voltage.
Infineon emphasized that compared with traditional 8-inch wafers, 12-inch GaN wafer is more advanced in technology, and the production efficiency is significantly improved. A single GaN wafer fits 2.3 times as many chips per traditional wafer. The revolutionary breakthrough not only lowers down production cost, improves product competitiveness but also paves a way for the application of GaN technology in wider fields.
Comments:
This technology is expected to greatly improve chip production efficiency and reduce costs, because it allows fitting more chips on a single wafer, thus improving production efficiency and scale economy. Compared with existing 200mm wafers, the 300mm wafer technology offers more chips per wafer, thus increasing production efficiency 2.3 times. The application of this technology will make the charging time of EVs shorter and their driving range longer, greatly improving user experience. In terms of AI data center, the high efficiency of power semiconductors means that its energy consumption is greatly reduced and it can support more complex computing tasks. Infineons technological breakthrough will undoubtedly speed up this trend and is expected to promote the rapid growth of GaN power semiconductor market.
02
Market Trend (September 13)
How to cool down "hotter and hotter" chips?
The continuous miniaturization of chip process aggravates the dilemma of heat dissipation. According to traditional heat dissipation experience, there is a physical limit to the heat dissipation density of chip, and its heat dissipation capacity of per square millimeter is about 1 watt. At present, the development trend in the industry is that below 10 nm, chip giants such as Intel and AMD have adopted heat spreaders to solve the heat problem. With the advent of 3 nm and 2 nm processes or even the Ångstrom era, thermal dissipation will be the top problem.
Driven by the wave of AI, the power consumption of next generation AI chip even exceeds 1 kW. In the face of such a high power consumption, liquid cooling technology has become a necessary option for cooling. However, the hotter the device is, the higher the cooling cost will be. According to the statistics of CDCC, the refrigeration system of a data center accounts for 20-25% of its CAPEX, and its power cost accounts for 40% of its OPEX. Power consumption was once regarded as a soft index, but now it has become an important consideration in chip design. The adverse effects of excessive heat cannot be ignored.
Comments:
In the face of the increasingly severe heat dissipation challenge and the diligent pursuit of chip performance improvement, how to effectively solve the heat dissipation problem under the premise of ensuring chip performance is an urgent task to be solved by the industry.
From the perspective of EDA, there are many challenges to realize accurate thermal analysis. First of all, the spread path of heat in a chip is complex and diverse, so it is necessary to consider factors such as thermal conductivity and interfacial thermal resistance of different materials. Secondly, for advanced packaging technologies such as 3D-IC, it is necessary to consider thermal conductivity and thermal dissipation path between different layers, which increases the complexity and computing load of analysis. In addition, due to the high accuracy of thermal simulation, it is necessary to consider how to ensure the calculation efficiency without affecting the accuracy of analysis results.
However, thermal analysis tools in the market are often scattered and single in function, so engineers have to adopt multiple software and methods to complete heat dissipation design at the same time, which not only increases engineering development cycle and cost but also reduces efficiency and consistency of chip design. Traditional tools for electronic heat dissipation design and analysis are inadequate to meet needs.
03
Company Trend (September 14)
Intel starts a “self-rescue” plan
Recently, Intel Corporation is suffering decline in performance and competitive pressure in the field of AI. Therefore, the company is considering a series of self-rescue measures. According to media reports, Intels self-rescue” plan may include selling off its non-core businesses such as its programmable chip division Altera, suspending or completely halting its US$32bn German chip fab project. In addition, Intel also plans to cut expenses through layoffs, reducing marketing and administrative expenses, suspending dividend payouts and other measures, hoping to save as much as US$10bn in costs in the next few years.
Intel is also separating its design business from its foundry business, and may abandon some fab projects. These measures are expected to negotiated in detail at the upcoming board meeting. Despite facing adverse conditions, Intel has not given up its layout in the field of AI but plans to increase R&D investment in AI and seek cooperation and alliance with leading enterprises in the industry.
Intels “self-rescue” plan also involves possible business separation, including its foundry business and selling off its FPGA business, i.e., Altera. These measures are aimed to reduce unnecessary capital expenditure, optimize financial structure and rebuild market confidence. Intel is also actively promoting R&D of its new generation of Core Ultra processor - Lunar Lake, which has made breakthroughs in terms of efficiency, computing and AI performance and is highly expected.
Comments:
Although Intels “self-rescue” plan has not been finalized, the market is optimistic about Intel’s possible measures for “self-rescue”. Its self-rescue measures are mainly a direct response to the current market environment. The following are some key measures of Intel for its “self-rescue”: layoffs and cost reduction, business restructuring, attaching attention to AI, adjustment of wafer foundry business, asset separation, investment … In addition, Intel works with the US government to participate in the "Secure Enclave" plan to make semiconductors for the Pentagon, which will bring additional income and support to the company. Intels stock price also showed unexpected resilience in some periods, which may reflect investors expectations to the companys future reform and transformation. Intels road to self-rescue is full of challenges, but it is taking decisive action to restore its leading position in the global chip industry.
04
Market Trend (September 13)
Oversupply of HBM fuels risks
Micron, a memory giant, was successively down rated by analysts and revised its target price downward, which caused its stock price to slump. Analysts worried that high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used for AI chips may be oversupplied, which will squeeze down prices and drag down profitability.
Barrons, Seeking Alpha and other foreign media reported that analysts of BNP Paribas rated Microns investment from "outperform the market" to "underperform the market", and sharply cut its target price from US$140 to US$67, down 26% compared to its closing price on September 11th. They believe that Microns performance before 2025 will be worse than that of other AI semiconductor makers, and the oversupply of HBM may cause the average selling price (ASP) of traditional DRAM to drop faster than expected, which may further revise the predicted profit downward.
Recently, US technology stocks have dropped sharply. It is rumored that the Biden administration is considering imposing stricter restrictions on exporting chips to China, which will also impact the semiconductor industry.
Comments:
Regarding the problem of oversupply of HBM, there is no clear evidence to show that no oversupply exist in the market. On the contrary, Senior Research Vice President of TrendForce reported that the market of HBM is expected to realize stable growth, which benefits from the demand of high capacity and high price of AI chips. The unit price of HBM is several times that of traditional DRAM. In addition, due to the product iteration of AI chip technology, the capacity of single HBM has increased. It is estimated that the annual growth rate of HBM demand will rise close to 200% in 2024 and will double in 2025.
Therefore, the current conditions show that the HBM market is facing demand growth and tight supply, rather than oversupply. Suppliers such as SK hynix, Samsung and Micron Technology are expanding their production capacity of HBM3E equipment, which has been sold out in the current year and has been closely sold out in most of 2025. These trends show that there is a strong market demand for HBM, and suppliers are trying to meet this demand.
05
Domestic News (September 09)
The world’s first 28nm embedded RRAM image quality adjustment chip mass produced officially
According to the official WeChat Account of Beijing Yizhuang, the world’s first 28nm embedded RRAM (Resistive Random Access Memory) image quality adjustment chip, developed by Chinese semiconductor company Beijing Xianxin Technology (Xianxin Tech), has achieved mass production in Beijing and has been successfully applied in the high-end series of Mini LED televisions of leading brands in China, marking that China’s display chips have reached new height of semiconductor process.
According to the relevant responsible person, the worlds top semiconductor technology has come to the era of 2nm process, but for semiconductor display, 28nm is the ceiling of the current domestic technology based on overall consideration of cost. Image quality adjustment chip has to integrate various compensation algorithms. As it is difficult to develop this kind of chip and it requires advanced logic process, it is one of the display chips with the lowest localization rate. In order to promote the progress of China’s chip localization, Xianxin Tech, by working with a domestic scientific research institute for four years, developed the 28nm image quality adjustment chip in 2023. The embedded RRAM storage module, core storage technology and RRAM IP were results of the scientific research institute, and the image adjustment algorithm was self-developed by Xianxin Tech.
It is reported that this chip is not only the first domestically developed 28nm display chip in China but also the world’s first advanced commercial image quality adjustment chip to use 28nm embedded RRAM IP based on completely self-owned intellectual property. Xianxin Tech is also the only domestic IC enterprise capable of achieving the process and value.
06
Domestic News (September 10)
HMO acquired Samsung SDI’s polarizer business
According to the report of Xinhuanet at Seoul, on September 10th, Hengmei Optoelectronic Corporation (HMO), controlled by Haosheng Technology Group Co., Ltd., and Nuoyan Capital, an industrial fund of China, reached an agreement with South Koreas Samsung SDI to acquire polarizer assets, and all parties formally signed the contract. The acquisition deepened the cooperation between Chinese and Korean enterprises in the photoelectric display industry and is expected to enhance Chinas influence in the field of polarizers and play an active role in maintaining the stability of regional and global production and supply chains.
According to the announcement released by Samsung SDI, the transaction amount is 1,121bn won (about RMB6bn), and the transaction scope includes the production and sales of polarizing films of Samsung SDI in Cheongju and Suwon and 100% equity of Samsung (Wuxi) Electronic Materials Co., Ltd.
Recently, the chairman of Haosheng Technology Group Co., Ltd. said that the successful acquisition has a great impact on the global photoelectric display industry, and it will greatly enhance Chinas influence in the polarizer industry after the delivery.
07
Domestic News (September 13)
VIS works with EPISIL to build an 8-inch SiC production line
According to the news of SEMI, EPISIL Technologies Inc. recently announced that it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with VIS and both sides will work with each other to advance the R&D and production of compound semiconductor 8-inch SiC wafers. Related technologies were initially transferred by EPISIL, and mass production is expected to start in H2 2026.
The chairman of EPISIL said that Episil-Precision Inc., a subsidiary of EPISIL, and VIS have long been partners in silicon epitaxy business. The private fund introduced VIS as a strategic shareholder, and their joint investment will achieve closer cooperation between them. The cooperation between EPISIL and VIS, based on EPISILs existing 6-inch wafer making technology and customers, aims to jointly develop its 8-inch SiC technology platform and build relevant capacity, to provide long-term competitive solutions for IDM and fabless customers around the world. This strategic cooperation can create new growth momentum and comprehensive synergistic effect for VIS, EPISIL and Episil-Precision Inc. and will create higher value for the equity of customers and shareholders.
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