Amid a ramping up of import substitution, China may require EV suppliers to reduce sourcing of foreign-made components, a sign showing the global EV ecosystem may see a decoupling after the ICT supply chain
Semiconductor material distributors, such as Niching Industrial, Chang Wah Technology (CWTC), Topco Scientific, and Wahlee Industrial, continue to observe relatively stable demand for automotive chips and advanced packaging, while demand for mass-market consumer devices remains slow, according to industry sources.
Autonomous driving solutions developer Mobileye and China-based automaker FAW announced on September 14 that they have established a strategic partnership. Mobileye's SuperVision and Chauffeur platforms will enable advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) on FAW's vehicles starting at the end of 2024.
Competition between the Arm architecture and open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) RISC-V has heated up recently and become a focal point as TSMC invests in Arm. Premium and strategy flexibility are the two main topics in the race.
As demand for consumer electronics remains sluggish, microcontroller unit (MCU) manufacturers have branched out to applications in the industrial control and automotive sectors, with the increasing trend for smart manufacturing driving the former, and the latter benefitting from growth in the electric vehicle (EV) market, as well as low adoption rates for domestic automotive electronics for EV makers in China.
China-based new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers have scaled up in the past years, driving the semiconductor market growth. The automotive-grade MCU market has also expanded.
Qualcomm announced several partnerships centered on automotive technologies at IAA Mobility 2023. It will collaborate with two-wheeler makers like Gogoro and deepen ties with Mercedes-Benz, JLR, BMW and other leading carmakers. Qualcomm will also work with Amazon AWS on self-driving technologies and software-defined vehicles.
Foxconn reportedly partnered with STMicroelectronics for semiconductor investments in India, and Foxconn's former chip partner Vedanta submitted a separate application for India's chip incentive scheme.
Infineon Technologies is expanding its production capacity to meet the rising demand for semiconductors used in electric vehicles (EV) and other automotive applications over the next decade, according to the automotive IC IDM.
Taiwan's car components industry, which focuses on exports, has seen its output value hit a record high while challenges like inflation and rising interest rates remain. The Ministry of Economic Affairs said Taiwan will accelerate the development of 5G, EV, biotech and pharmaceutical industry in 2024 to become an essential supplier in the world.
The MEMS and Sensors Forum, part of Semicon Taiwan 2023, was held on September 5. Keynote speaker Prashanth Doreswamy, president and CEO of Continental Automotive Components (India) Pvt., said the primary catalyst of automotive technology development has shifted from horsepower to chips. Next-generation cars rely on electronics to enhance their performance.
China-based autonomous driving chip developer Horizon Robotics is showcasing solutions for smart driving and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) powered by its Journey chip series at IAA Mobility 2023. The company said deliveries of the Journey chips are approaching four million units.
China-made EVs are gaining traction in Europe. While these carmakers are striving to gain a global presence, the ongoing price war on their home turf may remain a shared burden.
Infineon's German headquarters confirmed to DIGITIMES that it had certified the automotive-grade SiC produced by China-based material suppliers SICC and TankeBlue earlier than expected. Infineon also said it had started delivering the SiC products to global customers.
China's National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known as the Big Fund, has provided Silan Microelectronics, a Chinese IDM specializing in automotive chips and devices, with additional funding, according to industry sources.
The collaboration between LG Display (LGD) and Mercedes-Benz on automotive OLED panels is expected to help accelerate adoption of OLED technology in the automotive industry, according to sources at Taiwanese IC design houses.
The trend of self-developed chips in China did not cease along with the fall of Oppo's IC designing subsidiary Zeku earlier in 2023. OSAT firms in Taiwan and China continue to witness the rising emergence of consumer and automotive chip orders from Chinese IC designers, especially with Huawei keenly pushing for the revival of its smartphones and made-in-China APs.
The outlook of the automotive industry in Taiwan is turning positive for the second half of 2023 and while shortages of some vehicle models and auto components remain, unable to fully satisfy all their orders is now the key issue, some suppliers said.
Amid the ongoing US-China tech war, Chinese companies, such as T-Head Semiconductor and StarFive Technology, are accelerating their development using the RISC-V architecture to avoid international restrictions on chip architecture.
Recent reports from the cross-strait supply chain indicate that a major Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer had ambitious plans early this year to make significant inroads into the upstream SiC compound semiconductor material-supplying sector. The plan involved a wide array of processes in the upstream supply chain.
The software-defined vehicles (SDV) trend has already been established and will become the market mainstream between 2026 and 2027, at the earliest, according to Brian Carlson, Global Marketing Director, Automotive Processing, NXP Semiconductors.
