Failing to get approval from Chinese authorities for the US$5.4 billion deal to acquire Tower Semiconductor, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger had to throw in the towel and call off the plan.
Car manufacturers have long been investing in building up their automotive chip supply chain, and the power module sector has been attracting major investment from them. Auto makers in China are trying to secure their access to power modules by collaborating with silicon carbide compound semiconductor (SiC) product providers, so as to catch up with BYD, the electrical automotive giant with the capability of producing batteries and IGBT/SiC key components.
Since ChatGPT ignited a race among competitors to develop their generative AI system in early 2023, the high-computing power demand has pushed up the sales of AI GPUs.
On July 28th, Friday, at the Company Venture in New York City, the North America Taiwanese Engineering & Science Association (NATEA) NY team hosted a thought-provoking startup talk event, centered around the theme of "Becoming an Entrepreneur". The entrepreneurial journey is often a daring leap from the familiar world of corporate jobs to the uncertain territory of startups. Throughout the talk, industry experts generously shared their invaluable experiences, challenges, and expert advice for those aspiring to make this transformation. Covering a wide array of topics, from finding the right co-founder to understanding the industry and securing venture capital funding, the event provided a treasure trove of insights for budding entrepreneurs.
As more and more companies participating in the RE100 initiative will use 100% green energy by 2030–2050, green hydrogen is a key option in the long-term global energy transition. In view of the strong growth potential of the global hydrogen industry, Taiwan's semiconductor companies should have long-term plans for utilizing green hydrogen as a source of green energy, said Sabrina Yu, analyst and project manager at DIGITIMES Research.
Having just celebrated the inauguration of its Global R&D Center building in Hsinchu, TSMC has made clear that Taiwan will remain the core hub of its innovation and advanced-node production for at least the next 20 years. However, with the geopolitical power struggle and the trend of regionalization expected to take hold, TSMC and Taiwan must justify their value to the customers who are seeking to diversify production out of Taiwan.
There is a big blind spot for Taiwan and all other countries dishing out CHIPS Act subsidies only to advanced-node semiconductor manufacturing capacities: innovations on mature nodes, which are used to produce chips in everyday applications to enable our transportation infrastructure, building temperature controls, automotive controls, and more, continue to receive huge investment in China without limitations.
TSMC, which is under pressure from major countries to set up factories overseas, has been criticized for receiving subsidies from the US and Germany by Intel and GlobalFoundries respectively. What is noteworthy is that TSMC's investments in Kumamoto, Japan and the related subsidies received from the Japanese government have been smooth and without controversy so far, and their cooperation is pleasant.
Nvidia has given its long-term partners, including Quanta Computer, Wistron, and Supermicro, priority to receive its AI GPUs which are in great demand, according to industry sources. TSMC, the manufacturer of Nvidia's chips, has already devoted as much capacity as possible to making its AI GPUs, which nevertheless will remain in short supply this year.
Several semiconductor companies in Taiwan are among the world's top-ranking companies in various ESG ratings, but they are not immune to a potential carbon lock-in effect due to the fact that the efficiency gains on carbon reduction of the state power generation system as a whole are not sufficient enough to curb the environmental footprint at the national scale.
AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su came to Taiwan this week for business meetings, as well as to receive an honorary doctorate degree from the National Yangming Chiaotung University in Hsinchu. NYCU is the first university in Taiwan to teach the engineering of semiconductors and is the alma mater of many important tech entrepreneurs and executives in Taiwan, including Acer's Stan Shih, UMC founder Robert Tsao, Asus founder Johnny Shih, Wistron chairman Simon Lin, TSMC CEO C. C. Wei, and Phison founder K. S. Pua, etc.
From the perspective of foundries, increasing Samsung's yields of GAA (gate-all-around) transistor production would be a lengthy and laborious process that appears to be considerably simpler than simply developing the first GAA-based transistor in the industry.
Germany published its first China strategy on July 13, following an eventful June as Europe geared up to face China's growing heft and as the US-China tech war further escalated. Despite having taken a critical first step towards aligning its foreign and security policies with its technology policy while striving to balance competition and cooperation with China, Germany, in its pursuit to strengthen foreign policy autonomy, will only notice the lack of it in the absence of a complete national security narrative.
One year after China lifted its pandemic control measures, the recovery momentum is already grinding to a stop. Economists have repeatedly warned that slower economic growth in China could hurt the world. However, experts are at the end of their wits on how to resuscitate consumer confidence in China.
China's auto market in the first half of 2023 set off a fierce price war dubbed the "suicidal price cuts," from battery EVs to fuel cell vehicles, which have turned the automotive LED lighting market into a killing field.
