2003网站太阳集团(中国)官方网站

01 Company Trend(Nov. 28)

Intel outsourced its CPU to TSMC, really?

According to the report of Economic Daily News of Taiwan, Intel plans to adopt N3B, a derivative product of TSMC’s 3-nm process to fab its next-gen CUPs for “Lunar Lake”to be launched after 2024. According to the report, Intel also contracted TSMC to fabricate its tGPU（Tile GPU) and NPU on its 3nm process and high-speed I/O chiplet on its 5nm process. It seems that TSMC will obtain most of the chiplet orders. It is expected that mass production of the chiplets will begin in H1 2024.
On the other hand, according to the report of TrendForce of Taiwan, AMD, Intels competitor, may adopt the "dual-fab model" for its Zen5c core (development code: Prometheus), which will adopt TSMCs 3nm process and Samsungs 4nm process at the same time.
Samsung Electronics is planning to expand its customer base in the fields of AI semiconductors and automotive semiconductors, aiming to get rid of its traditional high dependence on the mobile field. As part of these efforts, it is believed that Samsung has reached agreement with AMD to adopt HBM3 to fabricate AI semiconductors, and Samsung will provide packaging technology for the Instinct MI300 series. Samsung, is readying its own advanced packaging solution SAINT (Samsung Advanced Interconnection Technology) to compete against TSMC’s advanced package technology “CoWoS” and tries to secure orders of high-performance semiconductors from major chipmakers.

Comments

In the past, TSMC contracted with Intel to fabricate Atom CPUs. Recently it is accelerating cooperation with Intel, for example, it will fabricate Intel’s non-mainstream chips such as tGPU and high-speed I/O chips. The outsource of CPU production of the mainstream platforms may lead to further cooperation between the two giants in the future.

AMD’s Dual Foundry model (both TSMC and Samsung) to fabricate its chips is a strategic measure, aiming to reduce the risk of totally relying on TSMC. The basic versions of Prometheus will be mainly fabricated on Samsung’s 4nm process technology, whereas the “high end” versions will be on TSMC’s 3nm process technology. If the cooperation between AMD and Samsung is successful, other companies will probably outsource their chips to Samsung too, but the potential problem of yield rate is the reason for adopting Samsungs 4nm process instead of its 3nm process. In addition, whether AMD will really adopt the Dual Foundry model has not been announced.

02 Company Trend(Nov. 29)

Nvidia delays the launch of AI chips specially designed for China

SemiAnalysis, a consulting firm of the chip industry, reported this month that Nvidia, a California-based AI chip giant, is expected to launch new products as early as November 16th. However, according to two insiders, Nvidia has informed customers in China that it will delay the launch of a new AI chip that meets US export rules until the first quarter of next year.
The delayed chip is the H20, the most powerful of three China focused chips Nvidia has developed to comply with fresh US export restrictions. The sources said that the H20 was being delayed due to issues server manufacturers were having in integrating the chip. The H20 launch has now been postponed until the first quarter of next year, perhaps in February or March. This may complicate the battle for market share in China between Nvidia and Huawei. In this regard, Nvidia declined to make any comments.
In addition to the H20, Nvidia has been planning to launch two other chips to comply with new US export rules - the L20 and L2. The sources said the L20 was not facing delays and would be launched according to its original schedule, but they were unable to share information on the status of the L2.

Comments

For a long time, the US has been containing China in the field of chip semiconductors. In fact, the global industrial chain has been greatly hurt, which makes people in the industry complain incessantly. From October last year to October this year, the US has been “scaling up” its containing measures against China. In the US$7 bn AI chip market of China, Nvidia holds more than 90% of the market share, and many American companies, represented by Nvidia, have different views on the restrictions of the US government.
Nvidia is betting on its new chips, hoping to keep its market share in China. If Nvidia confirms the rumor, it shows that how important the Chinese market is to US chip companies, and to what extent some of them are prepared to comply with Washingtons shifting restrictions.

03 Policy Trend(Nov. 29)

Germany vows to subsidize Intel and TSMC fabs despite billions in funding in doubt

According to Reuters, WirtschaftsWoche quoted the words of the Minister of Economics of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany that, the court’s negative ruling on the German financial planning will cause the planned chip fabs in the State to lose billions of Euros in subsidies. When Intel announced its plan, the insider told Reuters that Berlin had reached a subsidy agreement with the American chipmaker Intel on a €10 bn subsidy. The Minister of Economy of Saxony-Anhalt said that when Germany can no longer undertake future fab projects like Intel, the economic loss will be huge and the image loss will be huge too.

Recently, HardwareLuxx reported that the German government is committed to supporting the construction of chip fabs by Intel, TSMC, and Wolfspeed, despite facing financial challenges due to a budget crisis. In fact, Intel and Wolfspeed have already received firm funding commitments from the government. The Minister of Economy also emphasized the strong support for the chip fabs.

Comments

Germany has promised to fund US$22 bn in incentives to semiconductor companies such as Intel, TSMC, and Wolfspeed to gain their commitments to build new fabs in Germany. However, the Federal Constitutional Court deemed that the reallocation of unspent COVID-19 crisis funds to the Climate and Transformation Fund in 2022 WAS unconstitutional. The German government had intended to use this fund to subsidize chip manufacturing, but the ruling brought uncertainty to the funding.

Currently, the government is looking for ways to fund these projects. They are considering using the current federal budget and possibly suspending the debt brake for this and next year. They are also considering cutting budgets in other departments. In addition, to address the financial challenges, German Bundestag approved a supplementary budget for 2023, allowing for the raising of an additional €45 bn. However, the amount is still not sufficient to cover the total cost needed for these fab projects and other spending, showing that the German government still has financial obstacle to overcome.

04 Company Trend(December 1)

Apple announces expanded partnership with Amkor for chip packaging

On December 1st, Apple announced that it would be the first and largest customer of the new Amkor manufacturing and packaging facility being developed in Peoria, Arizona. Amkor will package Apple’s chips produced at the nearby TSMC fab, where Apple is also the largest customer. Apple and Amkor have worked together for more than a decade, packaging chips used extensively in all Apple products. With a shared desire to manufacture in the U.S., Apple and Amkor developed plans to build the largest outsourced advanced packaging facility in America.
Amkor is the only OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test) service provider headquartered in the US, and has advanced packaging technological capabilities and experience in mass production. When completed, it will become the largest outsourcing advanced packaging facility in the US. The President and CEO of Amkor said that the US is expanding its semiconductor supply chain, and Amkor, as the largest advanced packaging company headquartered in America, is very happy to take the lead in enhancing the advanced packaging capabilities in the US.

Comments

Semiconductor companies, foundries and other supply chain partners understand the necessity of strategically expanding their geographical footprints. According to its announcement of establishing a new advanced packaging and testing facility in Arizona, Amkor is committed to helping customers secure a flexible supply chain and become part of a strong American semiconductor ecosystem.

In addition, the project has gained strong support from the City of Peoria, the Arizona Commerce Authority, and the government authorities as it expands the evolving semiconductor ecosystem, provides high-tech jobs, and increases economic energy in the Greater Phoenix metropolitan area. To ensure the success of a project of this magnitude in America, Amkor has applied for CHIPS funding. The CHIPS and Science Act was established to boost US competitiveness, innovation, and national security in the semiconductor industry. The funding will play a key role in advancing the project of Amkor.

05 Trends of somedomestic industries

1.CXMT launched LPDDR5 memory chip, achieving breakthrough in the domestic market(Nov. 28)
According to the news of its official website, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) unveiled its latest DRAM LPDDR5 series on November 28, including 12Gb LPDDR5 chips, 12GB LPDDR5 chips with package on package (PoP) packaging, and 6GB LPDDR5 chips with die stacking chip (DSC) packaging.
According to the product introduction by the website, LPDDR5 is the company’s fifth generation of low-power double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory. The new product of CXMT offers a single-die density of 12Gb, with a speed of 6400Mbps, representing a 50% performance improvement and a 30% power consumption reduction over LPDDR4X (internal test data). In addition, CXMT added the powerful RAS features to LPDDR5, such as On-Die ECC, which achieves real-time error correction, reduces system failure, enables more robust data security and enhances stability.
Among them, the 12GB LPDDR5 has been verified by major Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi and Transsion. LPDDR5 is a product launched by CXMT for the mid and high-end mobile device market, and its marketization will further improve CXMT’s layout of DRAM chips.

2.Inuchip pockets Series A funding of RMB500mn, with its global headquarters to be located in Hefei(Nov. 28)
According to the report of its official Wechat account, Yinniu Microelectronics (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. (Inuchip), a visual processing AI chip and solution provider, announced the completion of a Series A financing valued at more than RMB500mn. The fundraiser was led by the state-run Hefei Industry Investment Group and Accurate Capital, while Jinxi Group, Timeverse and some existing shareholders also invested money into the fundraising round. The money raised will be primarily spent on R&D of the next-generation chip module, new product solutions and talent team construction.
It is said that after this round of financing, Inuchip decided to set its global headquarters in Hefei, integrating global strategic management, R&D center, sales operation center and supply chain management center, and it plans to establish a world-class R&D center for high-end chips and AI products at Hefei. At the same time, it will actively cooperate with major universities and research institutes in Hefei and absorb and cultivate outstanding high-tech R&D talents around the world.
According to the data, Inuchip is a high-tech enterprise focusing on visual processing and multi-sensor fusion+AI chip and product design. Its self-developed chip features the worlds leading 3D visual perception processing engine, and is the world’s only SoC that integrates 3D visual perception, AI, SLAM and other functions on a single chip unit.

3.100% homegrown chip! Loongson Zhongke releases next-gen general processor(Nov. 28)
100% homegrown chip! Loongson Zhongke releases next-gen general processorAccording to CCTV news, Loongson Zhongke releases Loongson 3A6000 processor on November 28, a new generation of domestic CPU in Beijing. According to reports, The Loongson 3A6000, as Chinas latest version of general-purpose processor, adopted Chinas own architecture and homegrown design without relying on any foreign licensed technology. It can run applications on different platforms for complex tasks in desktop application scenarios.
It is reported that compared with the previous generation Loongson 3A5000, the single-thread performance of Loongson 3A6000 is improved by 60% and its multi-threaded performance is improved by 100%. The lab test results Consumer Education Services Inc. (CESI) show that the overall performance of Loongson 3A6000 is equivalent to Intel’s 10th gen quad-core processors released in 2020.
According to the deputy director of the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the latest self-developed central processing unit by Loongson marks a new level of Chinas homegrown CPU in terms independence, self-control and performance, but also shows that China has the capability to develop world-class products based on its self-developed CUP architecture. At the same time, the company also launched a printer main control chip, Loongson 2P0500, the first of its kind based on an independent command system, which is expected to be used more frequently by Chinese printer makers.