Semiconductor News 20251021

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1. Memory Capacity Shortages to Cause Supply Chain Warfare in 2026, Raising Risk of Disruption Memory chip (DRAM, NAND flash) capacity shortages are expected to worsen, causing a supply chain warfare in 2026 and increasing the risk of market disruption Micron, warns that the tightness in the DRAM market will continue to worsen through 2026, driven by increased demand for high-performance memories like HBM. On the other hand, Winbond’s chairman is of the opinion that the memory supply-demand balance will readjust in two to three years, and there are multiple views on where the market is headed.
2. TSMC Tightens Orders from China After U.S. Sanctions; Closes Out Huawei Proxy Sophgo, Halves Bitmain Orders TSMC has tightened its control over orders from China in response to tighter U.S. sanctions. In particular, it has terminated orders to Sophgo, which is considered a proxy supplier for Huawei, and halved orders to Bitmain, a mining chip maker. The move comes amid rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, as the world’s largest foundry companies are complying with export controls and adjusting their customer portfolios.
3. Confusion at Nexperia Deepens; Dutch Head Office and Chinese Corporation at Odds over Management Rights Confusion at Dutch chipmaker Nexperia is growing as a conflict over management rights between the Dutch head office and its Chinese subsidiary deepens. The Dutch government has stepped up its intervention by seizing Nexperia. Nexperia has also strongly denounced as false the unjust accusations made by the dismissed CEO (unpaid salaries and claims of independent operation of the Chinese corporation). This highlights the issue of international corporate governance and state involvement in the semiconductor supply chain.
4. Massive AWS Outage Takes Down Internet A massive outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) resulted in widespread Internet outages, with many global services including Roblox, Fortnite, Zoom, and Snapchat reportedly malfunctioning. and half of the Internet was reportedly down. While services have since been restored, the outage exposed vulnerabilities for services around the world, including domestic companies, as they increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure.
5. Intel to Start Mass Production of First MPU Built on 18A by the End of 2013 Intel plans to begin mass production of its first MPU (microprocessor unit) manufactured using 18A, the next generation of advanced process technology, by the end of 2025. This move demonstrates Intel’s strong intention to regain its leading-edge manufacturing capabilities and compete with TSMC and others in the foundry competition. In addition, Fujitsu is considering outsourcing 1.4nm CPU manufacturing to Rapidus for the Fugaku successor in 2029, intensifying the competition in advanced process development.
6. Samsung to unveil HBM4 at Tech Fair in late October to close gap with rivals Samsung is said to unveil next-generation HBM4 at Tech Fair in late October to close gap with rivals in the high-performance memory market HBM is an essential technology in the AI/HPC field and the market competition is intensifying. Competition for talent is also heating up, with competitor Micron reportedly pulling personnel from Samsung and SK Hynix to strengthen its HBM structure at its Taichung plant in Taiwan.
7. Korea Forms Task Force in Response to China’s Crackdown on Rare Earths To counter China’s crackdown on rare earths, the Korean government has formed a task force aimed at alleviating vulnerabilities in the domestic supply chain. Rare earths are a strategic commodity essential for the manufacture of semiconductors and high-tech equipment, and there is an urgent need to diversify and secure stable supply sources. In the U.S., U.S. steel giant Cliffs has also begun an investigation into rare earth production, and interest in resource security is growing internationally.
8. TSMC to Break Ground for 1.4nm Taichung Plant on November 5 TSMC reportedly plans to break ground on its Taichung plant, which will manufacture the next-generation 1.4nm process node, on November 5. Mass production at this state-of-the-art plant is scheduled to begin in late 2028 and is part of TSMC’s aggressive capacity expansion plan to meet demand in the AI and HPC sectors.
9. Alibaba Cloud Announces 82% Reduction in Nvidia AI GPU Usage with New Pooling System Alibaba Cloud announced that it has reduced its use of Nvidia AI GPUs by up to 82% with a new pooling system that significantly improves AI GPU usage efficiency. Alibaba Cloud announced that it has reduced the use of Nvidia AI GPUs by up to 82%. This is a significant innovation that improves cost and energy efficiency in training and operating large AI models. This move toward efficiency reflects a trend toward greater efficiency and adoption in AI infrastructure, including a partnership between IBM and Groq to accelerate enterprise AI deployment.
10. Samsung Receives Order to Develop 8nm Automotive Ch ips with Hyundai Motor Company Samsung has received an order to develop 8nm process automotive chips with Hyundai Motor Company. This order shows that Samsung is strengthening its foundry business in the fast-growing automotive semiconductor market. In addition, Doosan Tesna’s US$120 million investment in test facilities to support Samsung’s entry into Apple’s CIS (CMOS image sensor) market is another example of the company’s efforts to increase its competitiveness in non-memory areas.

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