DIGITIMES Opinions news

Monday 18 September 2023

Taiwanese drone makers strive to conquer the global defense market

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) technology has been a prominent feature at the Taiwan Aerospace and Defence Technology Exhibition (TADTE) 2023. The event gathered leading international defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman alongside newly emerging defense players like AeroVironment, which makes the Switchblade loitering munitions that gained prominence on the Ukrainian battlefield. Also Included at the exhibition are Taiwanese companies like Geosat Aerospace & Technology Inc. (Geosat) which has recently come under spotlight among a group of seven civilian drone manufacturers participating in a public tender to supply civilian grade reconnaissance drones for Taiwan's armed forces.

MediaTek investment in Arm reflects strategy in diversifying IPs and architecture

Monday 18 September 2023

Huawei's Kirin 9000S chip made by SMIC is only a breakout, not a breakthrough

Thursday 14 September 2023

Vietnam's journey in the semiconductor industry

Tuesday 12 September 2023

Global display panel industry undergoes accelerated phase-out

Friday 8 September 2023

LATEST STORIES

Friday 15 September 2023

Implications of latest merger between Taiwan and Canadian IC distributors to IC design industry

When the world is de-globalizing, it is the best time for Taiwan to re-connect to the global market. When a Taiwan-based IC distributor is moving toward the European and American markets via acquisition, how can Taiwanese fabless companies not gauge the pulse of this important trend?

Wednesday 13 September 2023

SE Asia to emerge as major chip hub as US looks to nurture Vietnam

Following the semiconductor partnership between the US and Vietnam and US-based GlobalFoundries' opening of a new plant in Singapore, the US is looking to build a more diversified semiconductor supply chain, with South and Southeast Asian countries expected to emerge.

Wednesday 13 September 2023

Huawei and Xiaomi incorporate LLM in smartphones, why not Apple?

Recently, Chinese smartphone manufacturers are aggressively incorporating large language models (LLMs) into their devices, and this trend deserves a closer look. Apple appears not in a hurry to join the battle any time soon, and therefore do not expect the iPhone 15 that is slated to be launched these days to have LLM inside.

Friday 1 September 2023

Different export control rules, same result for ASML and Nvidia

The Netherlands' export controls on cutting-edge chipmaking tools with new licensing rules take effect on September 1, the day after Nvidia's regulatory filing warned about the US government's export control expanding to Middle Eastern countries. Geopolitical risks impact semiconductor companies and their related supply chains. How their government helps minimize uncertainties will make a great difference.

Thursday 31 August 2023

Will Huawei regain its throne with self-developed 5G SoC?

Huawei's recent announcement of its latest flagship phone, the Mate 60 Pro, directly on its official website without any public activity, has instantly caused a stir. Since Huawei has experienced the US Department of Commerce's technology blockade for many years and has not been able to launch a true 5G handset for several years, can Huawei regain its market share championship for smartphones with its self-developed 5G SoC?

Wednesday 30 August 2023

OSAT supply chain sees increasing self-developed auto and consumer IC orders from China

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.

Wednesday 30 August 2023

4 Charts show ChatGPT popularity in Taiwan defies global trend

A report released by the TWNIC shows although ChatGPT is gaining popularity worldwide, it might be a phenomenon limited to a specific group in Taiwan, with less than half of Taiwanese internet users having used it.

Wednesday 30 August 2023

Will PV and LED's boom-and-crash history repeat in SiC semiconductors?

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.

Tuesday 29 August 2023

Are US and China patching up relations with Raimondo's visit?

US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo met with China Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao in Beijing on August 28 to advance US commercial and strategic interests is interpreted more as a "reality check" in the eyes of many China experts. Although Raimondo and her Chinese counterpart issued a mutual statement to ensure more communications in the future, China, a high-context culture in which many words are not spoken, has expressed its own messages in ways that may not be understood by the West.

Tuesday 29 August 2023

Challenges stand for auto semiconductor spec standardization

There remain challenges in trying to standardize automotive semiconductor components.

Friday 25 August 2023

Samsung's next step after getting first customer for Taylor TX fab

Samsung Electronics, having obtained its first customer for its Taylor, Texas fab, is expected to increase its business in semiconductor foundry services. However, the competition with rivals such as TSMC and Intel not only depends on getting better yields, but also an ecosystem of innovation with other fabless companies.

Friday 25 August 2023

The real reason why China is falling behind as the US' third largest exporter

The cumulative trade statistics from January to May this year released by the US Department of Commerce made the news around the globe in July. Mexico has surpassed China and become the largest exporter to the US.

Thursday 24 August 2023

Standardize automotive semiconductor component specs to maximize wins

Electrical vehicles (EV) and autonomous vehicles (AV) will be the two largest semiconductor applications in the future. However, there is still no unified specification for EV/AV semiconductor components so far.

Wednesday 23 August 2023

SMIC's unspoken mission and Huawei's 5G smartphone chips

As Huawei boldly proclaimed the comeback of its flagship 5G smartphone in early August, rumors about Huawei commissioning China's largest semiconductor foundry SMIC to break through the US export sanctions flared up again. Apparently, SMIC is the most likely source of Huawei's 5G chips, which has to be made by advanced semiconductor processing technologies. What did SMIC not say about its advanced foundry services? How is it coping with the business downcycle, alongside new export controls by the US, Japan, and the Netherlands on semiconductor equipment, to stay competitive?

Tuesday 22 August 2023

Can AI and EV chip demand salvage semiconductor equipment spending?

A recent survey of 10 semiconductor manufacturing companies by Nikkei showed that their equipment investment in 2023 is likely to decline 16% from a year ago, to US$122 billion. This would be the first annual decline since 2019, and the largest drop in 10 years.

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