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Company Trend（September 18）
Tesla expands production and places more orders from TSMC
As Tesla sprints for its layout of supercomputer Dojo, it is rumored that it will expand cooperation with TSMC. Regarding the rumor, TSMC said that it would not comment on it; Tesla did not immediately respond to reporters question either. It is reported that Tesla and TSMC have cooperated for a long time. When TSMC held North America Technology Symposium, Teslas senior executives were present at the symposium to share their successful cases of cooperation with TSMC, which has convinced the industry of the cooperation between the two companies on producing advanced chips. It is learned that Teslas supercomputer Dojo mainly adopts TSMCs 7-nm process node chips and combines with the advanced InFO_SoW (System-on-Wafer) packaging technology to meet high performance computing customization needs. In addition, it integrates chips arrays with thermal module without PCB, thus speeding up the production process. Teslas supercomputer Dojo is based on its self-designed D1 chips, and it consists of 120 training tiles and a total of 3,000 D1 chips. Tesla announced that its global engineering and AI headquarters in Palo Alto in California would enhance its supercomputer computing power. According to the estimation of the industry, Teslas computing capability enhancement plan will need about 10 thousand 12-inch wafers next year.
Comments
It was rumored earlier that Tesla would make large-scale purchase of NVIDIA H100 chips, and recently it announced to enhance its supercomputer capabilities, making the industry full of imagination for the subsequent application and development of its chips. It is reported that Tesla has taped out about 5,000 wafers with TSMC to make supercomputer chips this year. If the amount of taped out wafers increases to 10,000 pieces next year, Teslas supercomputer chips will be doubled. If Tesla continues applying more chips in 2025, its taped out wafers will further increase. TSMCs 7-nm chip family was previously hit by factors such as the sluggish performance of non-Apple mobile phones and poor PC market tone and less-than-ideal capacity utilization. With the growth of AI/HPC-related new applications and the increasing demand for vehicles, and driven by the rally of the PC market from the bottom, the capacity utilization of TSMCs 7-nm chip family is expected to pick up, which is conducive to the gradual recovery of its operations in 2024, but the strength of subsequent recovery still needs to be observed based on the market conditions and the needs of its client base.
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Company Trend(September 19)
Continental Group to develop 7nm chips
Recently, Continental Group and Ethernovia, Inc. jointly announced that they will establish a development partnership to build an automobile-grade 7 nm process node high-bandwidth and low-latency switch, so as to efficiently and safely move data in a software-defined vehicle (SDV). Firstly, Continental Group and Ethernovia will work together to make this advanced switch suitable for the series of high-performance computers (HPC) developed by Continental Group. Secondly, the two sides will cooperate to develop highly integrated automotive ethernet chips. The architecture and network business head of Continental Group said that the new functions in vehicles have promoted the increase of computing power, followed by an increase in the amount of data that needs to be collected and processed. The traditional computing topology is reaching its performance limit. By providing vehicle clients with new switch solutions customized based on automobile clients needs, and combining with innovative design of HPC, Continental Group can provide clients with effective, energy-saving and cost-effective solutions.
Comments
In the past, auto sales determined the yield and chip orders. Now, auto production depends on the supply of spare parts. The increasing electronic parts on automobile has accelerated this transformation. Digitalization & connectivity, EVs, autopilot and telematics need more chips. In this cooperation, Continental Group and Ethernovia hoped that their new switch technology can provide solutions to effectively accelerate data exchange in a vehicle, because the connectivity solution, new driver assistance system, high automation and future autopilot functions all need to exchange and process more and more data in near real time.
03
Company Trend(September 19)
SMC to build advanced packaging plant in USA
In the past, a report once said that although TSMC built a fab in the United States, she still faced a bottleneck in packaging. However, judging from the recent report, the United States is breaking through the last bottleneck. According to a report by Reuters on September 19th, the governor of Arizona said that the state is negotiating with TSMC on advanced packaging. The state is seeking to attract more investment and address challenges that TSMCs massive project has encountered there. TSMC will invest $40 bn to build two chip manufacturing fabs in Arizona to support Washingtons plan to improve U.S. chip making capability. "Part of our efforts at building the semiconductor ecosystem is focusing on advanced packaging, so we have several things in the works around that right now," he said on the sidelines of a U.S.-Taiwan supply chain forum in Taipei. TSMC said in a statement it had informed the governor on the "positive" progress made on the Arizona fabs, but did not directly mention plans for advanced packaging facilities.
Comments
Arizona delegations meetings with TSMC executives focused on their "continued partnership" and how to address any issues that arise. TSMC said that the dialogues during this visit would help both sides to work together even more closely in the future and the fabs in Arizona are the symbols of the partnership. These joint efforts also will help them create more secure and resilient supply chains. Advanced packaging technology can splice multiple chips into one device, thus reducing the cost of more powerful computing, which is crucial to AI chips. Facing a surge in AI-related demand, TSMC has been unable to meet the demand of advanced packaging services and has been rapidly expanding capacity, including investment in a new facility in Taiwan.
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Company Trend(September 19)
Samsung loses a big chip order
It is reported that TSMC has won a big order of Googles new generation of mobile phone chips from Samsung. Even though the sales volume of Googles mobile phone is not large, it still symbolizes TSMCs superior chip fabricating skills. When Google turns to TSMC, their cooperation is expected to be closer in the future. TSMC declined to comment on relevant reports. According to the report of AndroidAuthority, Google will launch Tensor G5 chip for its Pixel mobile phone series, and its foundry partner will be changed from Samsung to TSMC, but the mass production schedule will be postponed from 2024 to 2025. According to industry analysis, considering TSMCs relatively high quotation before, Google placed an order with Samsung. However, due to the poor yield rate of advanced process chips of Samsung compared to TSMC and its more cooperative projects with TSMC in the future, Google moved its business back to the Taiwan-based foundry. Although the sales volume of Googles Pixel series mobile phones falls far behind those of Apple, Samsung, OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi, etc., the industry believes that Googles "abandoning Samsung and moving back to TSMC" still has its symbolic significance. The supply chain points out that TSMC is far ahead of its peers in terms of yield rate of advanced process node, which is the key reason why major manufacturers around the world prefers TSMC.
Comments
Googles mobile phone is not a mainstream phone brand in the market, and it is mainly used to expand the ecosystem. In 2021, Google officially launched the new mobile phones Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. In addition to various new functions, the biggest feature of its mobile phones is that Google Tensor, a self-developed chip, was applied in its own mobile phone for the first time. This product is also regarded as Googles emphasis on carrying its own software with hardware and establishing an ecosystem of comprehensive research and development chips. This product is also regarded as Googles effort of attaching importance to applying its own software on its hardware to establish an ecosystem to comprehensively develop chips. Google is constantly strengthening its cooperation with TSMC. It was previously reported that the Google will choose TSMC to fabricate its Arm architecture data center server in H2 2024, and it is expected that it will be manufactured with 5 nm or 4 nm process node, and will be used by its own data center in 2025. It shows that in addition to mobile phones, clients of high-end applications have already chosen TSMC for mass production, which means that the relationship between Google and TSMC will get closer.
05
Trends of some domestic industries
1、Neta Auto and NEVC reached strategic cooperation(September 18)
On September 18th, Neta Auto signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center ("NEVC"), and the joint automotive laboratory, the joint automotive-grade chip testing and certification laboratory and the digital scene laboratory jointly established by the two sides were officially unveiled. At the same time, NEVC will provide corresponding testing and energy efficiency improvement services for Neta Auto in key core technical fields such as vehicle efficiency, chip testing, electric drive, electronics and electricity. In the future, the two sides will also jointly carry out cooperation in terms of declaration of government supported research subjects/projects and prediction, development, evaluation and application of prospective technologies, and rely on the rich sources of experts and technical reserve of both sides to fully empower the technological innovation of Neta Auto, and accelerate the landing of "equal rights in science and technology", promote the iterative innovation of new energy auto technology in China, and usher in a new era of high-quality development of the auto industry.
2、Will the domestic mask aligner plant land in Xiong an? CEEDI clarified the rumor（September 18）
Recently, a rumor that "7 nm mask aligner has been localized" was overwhelming the industry, saying that Tsinghua University’s EUV project has achieved localization of mask aligner, and the project has landed in Xiong an new area. In this regard, the official Wechat Account of China Electronics Engineering Design Institute ("CEEDI") made a clarification on September 18th. The project is not a domestic mask aligner plant, but a high-energy photon synchrotron source (HEPS) project located in Huairou, Beijing. HEPS can be regarded as a giant X-ray machine featuring ultra-precision, ultra-high speed and powerful penetrating capabilities. The X-ray machine, as a scientific experiment facility, can penetrate into the interior of substance to make 3D scanning to observe its microcosm from molecule or atomic scale. It is learned that the above-mentioned project started construction in 2019 and will be put into use by the end of 2025. As the first HEPS project in China and one of the fourth generation HEPS projects, it has the highest brightness in the world. At present, the supporting facilities for the HEPS project has been fully completed.
3、Anhui DongKe Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and Peking University launch joint R&D center on third-generation semiconductor（September 20）
According to the official Wechat account of Anhui DongKe Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Dongke Semiconductor and Peking University have officially unveiled their joint R&D center on third-generation semiconductor. It is reported that the R&D center will focus on meeting the innovative demands of the nation and the industry, take the core technologies and significant applications of third-generation semiconductor GaN as its core mission and will focus on the breakthroughs in materials, devices, and process technology bottlenecks to enhance Dongke Semiconductors innovative capabilities and market leadership in terms of third-generation semiconductor technology. According to the data, Dongke Semiconductor is the most advanced enterprise engaged in R&D OF GaN chips in China with domestic first combined GaN power management chips and its product performance equals to or even partially exceeds foreign products of the same time. Its products have been widely recognized by the market for their high performance, high reliability and low power consumption, thus realizing domestic substitution. Dongke Semiconductor said it will further tap the application of GaN chips in the consumption field such as quick charge and many other industrial fields such as communication, industrial power supply, photovoltaic power and new energy, and keep moving forward to promote the localization process of chips.
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