As Apple keeps advancing in AI as well as developing its own in-house processors, industry sources indicated that the tech giant’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeff Williams recently made a visit to TSMC, and was personally received by TSMC’s President, C.C. Wei, according a report by Economic Daily News.

The low-profile visit was made to secure TSMC’s advanced manufacturing capacity, potentially 2nm process, booked for Apple’s in-house AI-chips, according to the report.

Apple has been collaborating with TSMC for many years on the A-series processors used in iPhones. In recent years, Apple initiated the long-term Apple Silicon project, creating the M-series processors for MacBook and iPad, with Williams playing a key role. Thus, his recent visit to Taiwan has garnered significant industry attention.

Apple did not respond to the rumor. TSMC, on the other hand, has maintained its usual stance, not commenting on market speculations related to specific customers.

According to an earlier report from The Wallstreet Journal, Apple has been working closely with TSMC to design and produce its own AI chips tailored for data centers in the primary stage. It is suggested that Apple’s server chips may focus on executing AI models, particularly in AI inference, rather than AI training, where NVIDIA’s chips currently dominate.

Also, in a bid to seize the AI PC market opportunity, Apple’s new iPad Pro launched in early May has featured its in-house M4 chip. In an earlier report by Wccftech, Apple’s M4 chip adopts TSMC’s N3E process, aligning with Apple’s plans for a major performance upgrade for Mac.

In addition to Apple, with the flourishing of AI applications, TSMC has also reportedly beening working closely with the other two major AI giants, NVIDIA and AMD. It’s reported by the Economic Daily News that they have secured TSMC’s advanced packaging capacity for CoWoS and SoIC packaging through this year and the next, bolstering TSMC’s AI-related business orders.

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(Photo credit: TSMC)

To strengthen its semiconductor supply chain, the Chinese government is reportedly requiring domestic automakers, including BYD, to expand their procurement of locally-produced chips. The goal is to increase the proportion of domestically-sourced automotive chips to 25% by 2025.

According to a report from Nikkei on May 16th, the Chinese government has instructed major local automakers to increase the proportion of domestically-produced automotive chips they procure to 25% by 2025 from 10% currently. The Chinese authorities hope that by raising the procurement ratio of Chinese-made chips, they can accelerate the pace of independence for the country’s semiconductor supply chain.

As per the same report, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which is responsible for national automotive industry policy, has asked major Chinese automakers to increase the local procurement ratio of automotive chips to 20-25%. This request targets not only the major electric vehicle manufacturer BYD but also SAIC Motor, Dongfeng Motor, GAC Motor, and FAW Group.

However, this requirement is not mandatory; instead, it encourages automakers to expand their procurement of local chips through incentives. An industry source cited by the same report revealed that ultimately, the goal is for all automotive chips to be locally sourced.

The report further indicates that though the conflict between China and the U.S. in the semiconductor sector continues to intensify, manufacturing technologies used for automotive chips are usually not the most advanced, and therefore not subject to U.S. export controls.

This means that Chinese semiconductor manufacturers will be able to procure manufacturing equipment from overseas, bolstering their automotive chip businesses.

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(Photo credit: iStock)

Huawei, in collaboration with Orange Pi, an open source product brand of Shenzhen Xunlong Software, have unveiled their latest brandchild, OrangePi Kunpeng Pro development board. Though the specifics of the product have been hidden from public, an AI processor is said to be integrated into the package, indicating that Huawei’s Kunpeng chipsets have been progressing into the AI realm, according to a report from tom’s Hardware.

The Kunpeng Pro development board, an alternative of Raspberry Pi, is reported to be powered by a quad-core 64-bit Arm processor and an AI processor integrated into the same package. However, details of these processors remain undisclosed.

This is a tactic Huawei has employed previously to deter Western scrutiny. Huawei has been facing strict sanctions from the U.S. government, restricting its access to certain chips and chip-making technologies. On May 7th, the U.S. authority revoked the licenses of Intel and Qualcomm to supply semiconductor chips used in laptops and handsets to Huawei, which took immediate effect.

The development board is reported to be designed for a diverse user base, including consumers, developers, and students. It comes preinstalled with the openEuler OS, the openGauss database, and a range of internet, productivity, and software development tools.

Tom’s Hardware has learned that Kunpeng Pro uses a custom Huawei Kunpeng CPU that is paired with an AI FPGA processor. The CPU is believed to be a quad-core ARM model, while the AI FPGA processor is reportedly to offer 8 TOPS (Trillions or Tera Operations per Second) of AI computing power.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, launched in late 2023, delivers peak AI computing performance of 45 TOPS, while Apple’s M4, released in early May, is rated at 38 TOPS.

(Photo credit: Orange Pi)

In 2023, NVIDIA secured a large number of AI chip orders through the sale of data center GPU, making it the most prominent company in the AI field for the year. In this context, many chip design companies have been eyeing the AI chip market, aiming to seize the opportunities presented by AI development and achieve greater profits.

According to a report from Nikkei Asia, Arm, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group, is developing AI processor to be used in SoftBank’s data centers. The report states that Arm has already established a department specific to AI processors at its UK headquarters in hopes of having prototypes ready by spring 2025, with an official release in spring 2025, and mass production at wafer foundries starting in fall 2025. SoftBank will bear the initial development costs, expected to reach several hundred billion yen.

As per the plan, SoftBank intends to build Arm-based data centers in the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East by 2026. Given the high power supply requirements of data centers, SoftBank also plans to expand its presence into the power generation sector, developing wind and solar energy facilities and exploring next-generation nuclear fusion technology.

The report indicates that once Arm’s AI processors enter mass production, the AI chip business might be spun off. Additionally, SoftBank aims to implement a broader strategy in the AI field to enhance the competitiveness of its data center, robotics, and power generation divisions, and to facilitate innovation. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has emphasized that the application of general artificial intelligence will fundamentally transform industries such as shipping, pharmaceuticals, finance, manufacturing, and logistics.

Statistics show that the AI chip market size is mushrooming, projected to surge from USD 30 billion in 2024 to over USD 100 billion by 2029, and exceed USD 200 billion by 2032. Therefore, despite NVIDIA’s current leading position, various chip companies are striving to meet the demands for AI chips across different industries, seeking opportunities in this fast-growing market.

The latest punitive tariffs imposed on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) by the Biden administration are likely to discourage BYD, Leapmotor, and other local manufacturers from their global expansion plans, though the US is not their key target yet, according to a report by the South China Morning Post, citing Chen Jinzhu, CEO of consultancy Shanghai Mingliang Auto Service.

Citing Stephen Dyer, Greater China co-leader and head of the Asia automotive practice at global consultancy AlixPartners, the report stated that Chinese automakers are expected to go to Europe first, among other established and mature markets, as they monitor the evolving political landscape in the US.

President Biden announced new tariffs on Tuesday, targeting Chinese electric vehicles, semiconductors, batteries, solar cells, steel, and aluminum. The tariffs on Chinese EVs will increase to 100%, quadrupling the current rate of 25%, which takes effect in 2024.

As a result, some Chinese EV makers are expected to become more cautious about expanding overseas. In the meantime, these manufacturers are also preparing for potential challenges in Europe, where the European Commission began investigating Beijing’s subsidies for carmakers last year, according to South China Morning Post.

In October, 2023, the European Commission, responsible for trade policy in the 27-nation European Union, initiated an investigation to determine if fully electric cars manufactured in China were benefiting from distortive subsidies and thus merited additional tariffs.

The deadline for implementing provisional measures like tariffs or quotas is July 4, nine months after the Commission initiated its investigation, according to EU regulations.

In January, TrendForce has projected that the global sales volume of NEVs (including BEVs, PHEVs, and FCVs) is estimated to reach approximately 12.8 million units in 2023. Regional market sales shares are expected to be 60% in China, 22% in Western Europe, 11% in the United States, and 6% in other regions, with China’s market demand distinctly in the lead.

However, with China’s subsidies gradually phasing out and the increasing market penetration of NEVs in the country, the growth rate of China’s NEV market is starting to slow. This, coupled with the growing demand for electric vehicles in overseas markets, is prompting numerous Chinese automotive brands to expand internationally, particularly in Southeast Asia, where they are projected to hold a 67.5% market share in 2023.

(Photo credit: BYD)