Semiconductor News 20250729

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1. Samsung Wins Big AI Chip Contract from Tesla Samsung has won a $16.5 billion to $17 billion foundry contract with Tesla to manufacture AI6 chips at its Taylor plant using 2nm GAA wafers. Elon Musk described this as “minimal” and a major breakthrough for Samsung in the 2nm process competition with TSMC.
2. Intel Announces Restructuring and Cancellation of European Factory Construction Intel intends to spin off its Network & Edge Group to focus on core strategies following a $2.9 billion quarterly loss. In addition, the company has reportedly canceled the construction of two European factories.
3. TSMC ‘s U.S. Capacity and Future Plans TSMC’s Arizona plant is noted to meet only 7% of U.S. chip demand, highlighting the challenges of domestic chip supply in the U.S. TSMC aims to open a new advanced packaging facility in the U.S. by 2029 and establish an independent supply TSMC aims to establish an independent supply chain by opening a new advanced packaging facility in the U.S. by 2029.
4. U.S. and EU Agree on Trade Tariffs The United States and the European Union have reached a trade agreement that applies a 15% tariff on items including automobiles, and the EU has pledged $600 billion in investments. However, achieving the final deadline for comprehensive tariff negotiations by August 1 is expected to be difficult.
5. AMD Significantly Raises Price of Instinct MI350 AI Accelerator AMD has reportedly raised the price of its Instinct MI350 AI accelerator by as much as 70%, expressing confidence that it can compete with NVIDIA’s top-end Blackwell GPUs. The price of the Instinct MI350 AI accelerator has reportedly been raised by 70%.
6. Supply-Demand Gap for NVIDIA H20 GPUs in China NVIDIA estimates that it has 600,000 to 900,000 H20 GPUs in stock, but Chinese demand has reached approximately 1.8 million units, creating a significant supply shortage. The Trump administration’s move to ease export restrictions and facilitate trade negotiations with China and the lifting of the ban on H20 exports have helped China’s share of foreign purchased AI chips recover to 49%.
7. Mature node orders expected to decline Mature node orders are reported to decline by 30% in the second half of 2025, which is expected to put pressure on foundries such as UMC, VIS, and PSMC.
8. Apple and Nvidia Interested in Intel 14A Process Apple is currently evaluating Intel’s 14A process, and Nvidia has reportedly expressed interest in prototype production. This is a notable move amid reports that Intel Foundry Services is struggling to attract outside customers.
9. Strong Growth Projected for Pure Semiconductor Foundry Market Revenues Global pure semiconductor contract manufacturing (foundry) revenues are projected to reach $165 billion in 2025, up 17% from the previous year. This suggests healthy growth for the overall semiconductor market.
10. Kioxia to Start Mass Production of 9th Generation NAND Flash Japanese company Kioxia plans to start mass production of 9th generation NAND flash in FY2025. This is an important move that will impact the advancement of NAND flash technology and market supply.

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