Semiconductor News 20251204

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1. Marvell Acquires Optical Interconnect Technology Company for $3.25 Billion for AI Data Centers Marvell Technology has announced plans to acquire Celestial AI to accelerate the transformation to optical interconnect in AI data centers. The acquisition reportedly is valued at $3.25 billion, and with the explosion of AI workloads creating an urgent need for increased bandwidth and power efficiency in data centers, this acquisition is a strategic move by Marvell to ensure the dominance of optical technology in its AI infrastructure.
2. Samsung’s 6th Generation HBM Reportedly Ready for Mass Production , Targeting Nvidia Supply Chain Samsung’s 6th generation HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) is reportedly ready for mass production, and Samsung is targeting Nvidia’s supply chain with this advanced HBM. supply chain. There are also reports that Samsung’s HBM4 has outperformed expectations in Broadcom tests and is expected to lead supply for Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) in 2026.
3. AMD and HPE Expand Alliance on Helios Rackscale AI Architecture AMD and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) have expanded their partnership on the Helios rackscale AI architecture. The partnership is aimed at improving the performance and scalability of AI infrastructure; AMD also reportedly plans to power Vultr’s Ohio AI supercluster with 24,000 Instinct MI355X GPUs.
4. Intel Appoints Amkor in Korea for Advanced Packaging Outsourcing Intel has appointed Amkor Technology in Korea to expand its advanced chip packaging capabilities. This is part of Intel’s IDM 2.0 strategy, a move to enhance its ability to handle ultra-large chip packages, which are experiencing a surge in demand due to the AI boom, and to increase supply chain flexibility.
5. Tokyo Electron (TEL) under investigation by prosecutors in connection with alleged TSMC information leakage Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) has reported that its Taiwanese subsidiary has been investigated by prosecutors in connection with alleged trade secret leaks by TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation). The prosecutors are reportedly seeking a huge fine, and TEL has promised to strengthen its management system to prevent a recurrence. This incident demonstrates the importance of protecting trade secrets surrounding cutting-edge semiconductor technology.
6. NAND Prices Surge 50-100%, Memory Spot Prices Soar and Sellers Pull Out of Contracts SanDisk and Samsung have reportedly delayed NAND supply, resulting in a sharp **50% to 100%** increase in NAND prices to companies such as Transcend. Memory spot prices continue to soar, and there have been reports of sellers pulling out of existing contracts, exacerbating the tight supply-demand balance and instability in the market.
7. Korea Receives Initial 13,000 AI GPUs from Nvidia The Korean government has received the first 13,000 GPUs from Nvidia based on CEO Jensen Huang’s commitment to contribute to the AI infrastructure. This supply is an important step for Korea to quickly build a national AI infrastructure and increase its competitiveness in AI technology development.
8. China Claims 14nm Logic and 18nm DRAM to Rival NVIDIA’s 4nm GPU Chinese semiconductor developers reportedly claim that a new architecture using 14nm logic and18nm DRAM will deliver performance comparable to NVIDIA’s 4nm GPU The company has also been working on a new architecture that will be used in the future. This indicates that even under technological sanctions, China is pursuing high-performance AI solutions by combining existing mature node technology with innovative architectures.
9. Google’s TPU strategy and the introduction of “cost-effective AI chips” by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google’s camp may replace NVIDIA in the AI market. NVIDIA’s CFO has said that the $100 billion AI contract with OpenAI remains undecided, suggesting that the competitive structure of the AI chip market is changing.
10. German Merck Completes Advanced Semiconductor Materials Plant in Taiwan, Responding to AI Chips and 2nm Era German chemical and pharmaceutical giant Merck has completed an advanced semiconductor materials plant in Taiwan. The plant is designed to meet the increasing demand for AI chips and the 2nm era that TSMC and other companies are aiming for, and is an indication of the growing importance of materials supply in the global semiconductor supply chain.

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