Semiconductor News 20250828

Main News

1. Nvidia’s HBM Strategy and HBM4 Goal: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with executives from Samsung and SK Hynix at a U.S. summit as the battle for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) intensifies Nvidia is targeting Q1 2026 for Samsung and SK Hynix face a significant challenge in responding to the introduction of HBM4. This illustrates Nvidia’s leadership in HBM technology, which is critical to AI chip performance, and the fierce competition among suppliers.
2. TSMC ‘s 2nm volume production and Apple securing initial capacity: TSMC’s 2nm manufacturing technology is attracting a large number of customers despite the high price of $30,000 per wafer TSMC plans to begin full-scale production of 2nm wafers by Q4 2025, with Apple reportedly secured almost half of the initial production capacity. This highlights the competitiveness of leading-edge process technologies and the strategic moves by major customers to secure supply.
3. Strategic Investment in Intel and Promotion of U.S. Manufacturing: Trump has indicated that he intends to use TSMC’s Arizona plant as a bargaining chip to drive Intel and promote “Made in America”. In addition, Softbank has reportedly invested $2 billion in Intel, and the inside story of the U.S. government’s acquisition of a 10% stake in Intel has been pointed out, drawing attention to the massive support and industrial policy for Intel by the government and major corporations.
4. China’s Rapid Growth in Domestic AI Chips and Self-Sufficiency Goal: China-based Cambricon has seen its sales soar in the first half of 2025 on the back of surging domestic AI chip demand. Chinese AI companies are expected to increase revenues 43-fold in the first half of 2025, and Beijing’s policy of becoming “100% self-sufficient” in AI chips by 2027 is expected to lead to a significant increase in domestic production. This signals strong growth and a move toward strategic independence in China’s AI industry.
5. Nvidia Earnings and AI Market Valuation: Nvidia reported its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 and plans a 50% increase in revenue from August to October, but reportedly still has concerns about the Chinese market. Following the earnings release, Nvidia shares briefly fell 4% but pared their losses; Nvidia’s multi-trillion dollar market valuation in the AI space has attracted so much attention that investors are expecting $260 billion worth of share price volatility.
6. New Competition in the AI Accelerator Market: Korean startup Rebellions has announced a chiplet AI accelerator for the hyperscale market to compete with Nvidia. This is a sign of increasing competition in the AI accelerator space and reflects the current situation as more diverse companies enter the market and drive innovation.
7. Advanced Chip Packaging Market Growth and Technical Challenges: The advanced chip packaging market is projected to grow to $79.85 billion by 2032, increasing its importance in the semiconductor industry. However, technical challenges exist, such as Nvidia’s CoWoP PCB architecture, which targets ABF substrates but faces the risk of warpage.
8. Rapidus Completes 2nm GAA Test Chip Design: Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Rapidus has completed its 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) test chip design and is targeting volume production in 2027. Rapidus is also using AI as an essential tool in its 2nm design, which is an important step toward re-entering Japan’s leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing.
9. Expanding AI Integration in the Cloud Enterprise: Broadcom announced the integration of Nvidia’s AI technology into the VMware Cloud Foundation. VMware also expanded its private cloud platform with the addition of private AI services at the Explore event, demonstrating the rapid adoption and integration of AI in enterprise IT infrastructure.
10. Accelerating Humanoid Robot Market Launch: A Taiwanese chipmaker predicts that non-humanoid robots will enter the mass market within three years; Infineon and Nvidia are also reportedly working together to accelerate the development of humanoid robots. and its market expansion are highly anticipated.

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