Semiconductor News 20250526

Main News

1. Nvidia is reportedly developing a low-cost AI chip for China. This is to circumvent U.S. export restrictions and may cut prices by 30% by not using TSMC’s CoWoS or HBM. The new chip is expected to be the Nvidia RTX PRO 6000D (B40) Blackwell GPU, the successor to the H20 accelerator, which is banned in China.
2. TSMC ‘s advanced packaging is growing rapidly, fueled by Apple’s WMCM and AI-related orders from the Middle East, and reports that TSMC will invest 2.2 trillion yen.
3. Samsung aims to replace silicon interposers with glass by 2028. By doing so, the company aims to gain faster AI chips, lower manufacturing costs, and an edge in the semiconductor arena.
4. Following the divestiture of Samsung BioLogics, there is growing discussion about a possible spin-off of Samsung Electronics’ foundry business.
5. There is a lot of activity regarding U.S. tariffs and trade policy. It has been reported that President Trump may sue President Trump over the 50 %関税賦課を7月9日まで延期する一方、カリフォルニア州司法長官はAppleを標的とした25%iPhone tariff attempt on the EU. In response to these tariff shocks, companies are beginning to redesign their supply chains using AI. The U.S. is also urging South Korea to eliminate non-tariff barriers.
6. In China’s domestic semiconductor industry, domestic production and M&A are progressing. A wave of restructuring in the semiconductor industry is underway, with Haiguang Information absorbing Zhongke Akebono, and there are moves by A-share semiconductor giants to list their shares in Hong Kong.
7. Global chip sales rose 18.8% in the first quarter of 2025. By region, Intel and AMD exports to Russia fell sharply, but local companies said supply continued, while major Korean chip equipment makers saw significant profit growth due to higher demand in China.
8. AI technology is evolving and applications are expanding. Innatera’s Pulsar, a neuromorphic RISC-V MCU manufactured by TSMC for edge AI, is now available, and a liquid-cooled high-density GPU rack solution will be on display at COMPUTEX 2025. In Korea, the construction of AI systems to support judicial rulings has begun, and the issue of AI power consumption is being discussed.
9. There are major developments in Apple-related products and operating systems. tvOS and watchOS will undergo a major redesign at WWDC 2025, incorporating visionOS-inspired UI designs. xiaomi has entered the 3nm competition, but this is not a showdown with Apple. It has stated that it is not. Also, as noted above, Apple is reportedly subject to possible U.S. tariff issues.
10. India is focusing on the semiconductor sector. Silicon collaboration with Taiwan and ambitions in the area of OSAT (back-end process services) are reported, and Trymax Semiconductor has achieved 500 process chamber installations in the Asian region.

News List