Semiconductor News 20251118

Main News

1. South Korea’s Semiconductor Giants Make Huge Investments and Competition Intensifies SK Hynix has reportedly raised its investment in the Yongin semiconductor cluster to 600 trillion won, and Samsung is also increasing its spending.Samsung alone has announced plans to invest $31 billion in AI and semiconductor production in South Korea over the next five years, and is pushing ahead with construction of a new memory plant at its Pyeongtaek campus. Samsung alone has announced plans to invest $31 billion in AI and semiconductor production in South Korea over the next five years and will push ahead with construction of a new memory plant at its Pyeongtaek campus. This massive investment represents a record competitive investment by Korean companies to secure leadership in next-generation memory and foundry technologies in the AI era.
2. TSMC Moves Advanced Packaging CoPoS Mass Production Up to 2029 TSMC announced today that it will move up the start of mass production of its next-generation advanced packaging technology, CoPoS (Co-packaged Optics Solution, etc.), to 2029 in order to meet the demand for high-performance AI chips. This early introduction of CoPoS will enable Taiwanese suppliers to meet the demand for chips. With this early introduction, a Taiwanese supplier has won the first order. The move is intended to accelerate the market launch of optoelectronic fusion and advanced stacking technologies that will dramatically improve the performance of AI servers.
3. NVIDIA Pressures Partner Margins on Full AI Server System Sales NVIDIA is reportedly preparing to build a full AI server system sales structure in 2026. This strategy will strengthen NVIDIA’s direct control over the supply chain, including the AI server cooling supply chain, which is already squeezing suppliers’ margins, especially in the “Vera Rubin” cooling supply chain. This may change the competitive landscape by reducing revenue opportunities for traditional AI server ODM/OEM partners.
4. Prolonged Memory Shortage and Severe Spillover to Entire Supply Chain The memory (DRAM/NAND) shortage caused by the surge in AI demand is getting worse, and this situation is expected to continue until at least 2026. This supply crunch is having far-reaching effects throughout the semiconductor supply chain, including Chinese foundry SMIC, AI chip designer NVIDIA, and even device makers such as smartphone and laptop manufacturers. It has also been noted that a sharp rise in memory prices could lead to a decline in end-product shipments.
5. Samsung Wins Initial Orders from Cryptocurrency Miners for 2nm Miniaturization Chips Samsung Foundry has reportedly secured orders from leading cryptocurrency mining companies MicroBT and Canaan to manufacture chips using the next generation 2nm process technology. This order is an important milestone for Samsung in its pursuit of TSMC in the foundry race, and demonstrates the company’s proven track record in commercializing the latest miniaturization technology and securing a new customer base in the highly efficient mining chip market.
6. AMD Plans to Raise GPU Prices in Response to Surging Memory Prices Driven by AI and Data Center Demand, AMD is reportedly planning to raise the prices of its GPU products as the cost of high-performance memory skyrockets.Increasing memory costs such as HBM and GDDR are driving GPU This price revision move is indicative of the current semiconductor market inflation that is spilling over into the consumer and enterprise high-end product markets.
7. Intel Discontinues 8-Channel CPUs in Response to Server Market’s High-Volume Shift Intel has responded to the trend in the server market toward higher memory density configurations to support AI and HPC workloads by discontinuing the 8-channel design in its next-generation server CPUs, Diamond Rapids has reportedly been discontinued. This indicates that Intel is aggressively adjusting its product roadmap to meet the evolving demands of the data center, particularly maximizing memory bandwidth and capacity.
8. Canon Makes “Steady” Progress Toward Commercialization of Nanoimprint Technology for DRAM Canon is making “steady” progress toward the commercialization of nanoimprint lithography (NIL), a next-generation semiconductor manufacturing technology. NIL is expected to replace expensive It is expected to be a low-cost, high-resolution alternative to EUV lithography equipment, especially in the manufacture of memory semiconductors such as DRAM, and represents technology diversification and innovation in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment market.
9. TSMC Arizona Fab Faces Profit Decline, Recovery Depends on 3nm Mass Production in 2027 TSMC’s Arizona fab faced a profit decline in the third quarter. Analysis indicates that recovery from the challenges associated with this new U.S. fab launch will likely depend on the start of volume production of 3nm process technology at the second fab, which is scheduled for 2027. This highlights the initial technical and economic challenges of deploying a global manufacturing footprint, especially in starting up production overseas.
10. Chinese Oil Company Heshun Petro Enters Semiconductor IP Market for $220 Million Chinese oil and chemical company Heshun Petro has made an unexpected but significant $220 million investment in the semiconductor IP (intellectual property) market. This entry through a major acquisition from a different industry suggests that Chinese companies, backed by the government’s high-tech self-sufficiency policy and abundant capital, are seeking to establish dominance in the IP sector, a key element of the semiconductor industry chain.

News List