Semiconductor News 20250516

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1. TSMC is reportedly accelerating a major expansion plan that includes eight new factories and one advanced packaging plant by 2025. This is a pivotal move by the world’s largest foundry to increase its manufacturing capacity to meet the growing global demand for semiconductors, especially AI chips.
2. The struggle for technological supremacy between the U.S. and China and related policy and corporate developments have been reported in many quarters.
   • In particular, while the U.S. is expected to approve the export of millions of NVIDIA AI chips to the UAE annually, U.S. lawmakers have introduced a chip security bill to prevent NVIDIA’s AI chips from leaking to China, and tariffs under the Trump administration on a wide range of industries including automotive and electronicsConcerns have been expressed about the impact of tariffs under the Trump administration on a wide range of industries, including automotive and electronics.
3. Huawei is reportedly quietly pursuing its ambitions as an IDM (vertically integrated device manufacturer), with 11 “hidden” manufacturing facilities around China. This is part of China’s current national strategy to become more self-sufficient in semiconductors, with certain companies stepping up their domestic design-to-manufacturing efforts.
4. India is seeing major developments in the semiconductor manufacturing sector. Specifically, it is reported that a joint semiconductor plant project by Hon Hai and HCL has been approved by the Indian government, with a total investment of approximately Rs. 37.06 billion, and that Renesas is expanding its presence in India through office openings and start-up and academic partnerships. This is important news as it illustrates India’s rise in the regional decentralization of the semiconductor supply chain.
5. Developments in the memory market are also attracting attention: reports that Samsung is considering outsourcing photomask production for memory suggest a change in the supply chain strategies of major memory makers. In addition, reports that Kioxia Holdings is expected to post net income of 272.3 billion yen in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, but that the current situation is stagnant, reflect the current state of the NAND flash market.
6. Major investments in AI infrastructure are underway around the world. Saudi Arabia and NVIDIA’s move to build an AI plant, as well as the involvement of the U.S. President in the creation of a major new AI campus in the UAE, indicate an acceleration of infrastructure development at the national level in anticipation of the AI era.
7. The current status and challenges of China’s domestic semiconductor industry are also indicated by several news reports: reports that Chinese foundries such as SMIC and Hua Hong are seeking more orders from U.S. IC design firms suggest that they remain focused on attracting international customers. Efforts are also underway in Japan to replace domestic production in certain areas, such as a thermoelectric semiconductor company that has completed a financing round. The current state of lithography equipment development is also discussed.
8. Advances in semiconductor back-end and advanced packaging technologies have been the focus of much attention, including ASE’s plan to acquire AMPI to restructure its 6-inch foundry business and meet demand for AI chips, PSMC’s efforts to build a 3D AI semiconductor ecosystem in collaboration with multiple companies, and moves by Tohoku University and others to automate back-end processes. The move by Tohoku University and others to automate post-processing is an important direction for improving performance beyond the limits of Moore’s Law.
9. News on the performance of major Japanese companies and their semiconductor-related strategies: JDI posted a net loss of 78.2 billion yen and will proceed with business restructuring, including voluntary retirement, indicating the difficult situation in the display industry. On the other hand, information on future growth areas and strategies are also reported, such as TDK’s target to increase AI-related sales to 600 billion yen by FY2030, and Intel’s forecast to break even in its foundry division in 2027.
10. The possibility of Apple’s future iPhones using HBM, TSV technology, and pure silicon batteries, and AMD and NVIDIA preparing next-generation GPUs and platforms, are all part of an increasingly high-performance consumer devices and AI processing power in the future.

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