In 2024, the semiconductor industry has gradually emerged from its downturn and entered a phase of gradual recovery.

Observing the market situation, as downstream demand increases, a number of domestic semiconductor industry projects are accelerating.

Recently, more than 30 semiconductor-related projects have entered the stages of signing contracts, construction, topping-out, and production etc.

These projects span areas such as EDA, AI, advanced packaging, materials, equipment, third-generation semiconductors, chip design, CMOS sensors, and memory, involving companies like Huahong, Semitronix, YASC, Skyverse, Hoshine, Smartsens, Sanan Semiconductor, and CFMEE etc.

Conclusion

The industry has revealed that from this year’s market situation, the revenue of companies in the middle and upper reaches of the integrated circuit industry has generally improved, AI has become an important driving force for revenue growth, and the demand for acceleration chips such as GPU/HBM has increased. Some sub-sectors such as advanced packaging and equipment/materials related to the industrial chain have also benefited.

At the same time, as new energy vehicles drive the popularity of third-generation semiconductor materials, power devices such as silicon carbide are in high demand.

According to TrendForce, SiC is still showing an accelerated penetration trend in application markets such as automobiles and renewable energy where power density and efficiency are extremelyimportant.

The overall market demand will maintain a growth trend in the next few years, and it is estimated that the global SiC Power Device market size is expected to reach US$9.17 billion in 2028.

(Photo credit: Huahong)

In recent years, the U.S., Japan and the Netherlands, have increasingly expanding restrictions on China in semiconductor technology. South Korea, on the other hand, has been cautiously responding to U.S. demands due to its significant dependence on the Chinese market.

Yet, according to a report by South Korean media outlet The Korea Herald, the U.S. is increasing pressure on South Korea to comply with its export controls to China.

At the Korea-U.S. Economic Security Conference 2024 held in Washington, D.C. on September 10th, U.S. Commerce Department Undersecretary Alan Estevez called on South Korea’s two leading HBM manufacturers, Samsung and SK hynix, to align with U.S. export controls on China. He urged that their production capacity be reserved for supplying advanced chips to allied nations, rather than competitors such as China.

Estevez emphasized his appreciation for South Korea’s long-standing cooperation with the U.S., but pointed out that since AI can be used for military purposes, it is crucial to prevent China from acquiring advanced chips to train AI models.

South Korea’s Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo responded that while they will discuss the matter with the U.S., export controls have a significant impact on South Korea’s businesses and economy.

Some industry sources cited by The Korea Herald have further pointed out that the direct export volume of chips from Samsung and SK hynix to China is not significant, so the actual impact may be limited.

However, per a previous Reuters report cited sources, it’s indicated that about 30% of Samsung’s HBM chip sales in the first half of this year were to China.

The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade noted that, unlike Japan and the Netherlands, South Korea cannot fully align with U.S. export control measures due to its significant reliance on exports to China.

Per the Chosun Daily citing data from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association, it’s shown that in July of this year, South Korea’s exports to China increased by 14.9% year-on-year to USD 11.4 billion, the highest since October 2022. Notably, memory exports surged 89% year-on-year to USD 6.8 billion.

Semiconductor exports saw particularly strong growth, with chip exports rising 49% year-on-year. In June this year, Korea’s memory exports also amounted to USD 8.8 billion, accounting for 65.8% of total semiconductor exports, which reportedly represents the highest proportion in two years since December 2021.

These figures reflect South Korea’s robust performance in the chip sector and the strong demand from the Chinese market for Korean semiconductors and other ICT products.

Meanwhile, due to the U.S.’s strict restrictions on chip manufacturing technology, China is striving for breakthroughs in the HBM field.

The HBM market is currently dominated by South Korea’s SK hynix, Samsung Electronics, and the U.S.’s Micron, all of which are producing the latest standard HBM3 chips.

However, a report from Tom’s Hardware, citing industry sources, has indicated that Chinese companies, including CXMT, have made progress in developing HBM and are in the early stages of production. Huawei is also collaborating with other Chinese companies, with plans to produce HBM2 chips by 2026.

Read more

• [News] ChangXin Memory Technologies in China Has Reportedly Begun Mass Production of HBM2
• [News] Progress Made in Chinese Consortium’s Development of HBM, Reportedly Targeting HBM2 Production by 2026

(Photo credit: Samsung)

According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, neither DRAM nor NAND spot prices show much momentum. Regarding DRAM, spot prices are still falling as Samsung is increasing the amount of reball DDR5 (D1Y) chips that come from decommissioned modules. As for NAND flash, the spot market persists in sluggishness this week, where spot traders are continuously lowering their quotations. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:

In the spot market, prices are still falling as Samsung is increasing the amount of reball DDR5 (D1Y) chips that come from decommissioned modules. Since these reball chips are second-hand and low-cost products, Samsung can achieve profitability. However, this is leading to a continuous decline in spot prices, thereby affecting confidence across the entire DRAM market and buyers’ sentiment. Most buyers are now cautious and unwilling to actively stock up. The average spot price of the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) decreased by 0.10% from US$1.972 last week to US$1.970 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Price:

The spot market for NAND Flash persists in sluggishness this week, where spot traders are continuously lowering their quotations to alleviate their pressure from inventory, though overall transaction dynamics are maintained at a lackluster level without apparent signs of recovery under unimproved end demand. Spot price of 512Gb TLC wafers dropped by 3.45% this week, arriving at US$3.075.

Recently, China has set two records in semiconductor chip sector: first, it mass-produced the world’s first 28nm embedded RRAM image quality adjustment chip; second, it developed the world’s first 16-bit quantum bit semiconductor microprocessor chip.

• Mass Production of the World’s First 28nm Embedded RRAM Image Quality Adjustment Chip

As per the official account of “Beijing Yizhuang,” the world’s first 28nm embedded RRAM (Resistive Random Access Memory) image quality adjustment chip, developed by Chinese semiconductor company Xianxin Technology in collaboration with domestic research institutes, has achieved mass production in Beijing and has been successfully applied in the high-end series of Mini LED televisions of leading brands in China.

It is reported that this 28nm display chip adopts the “digital chip + embedded RRAM” technology solution. Compared with the mainstream counterpart in the industry, which uses the “TCON + external FLASH memory,”  this chip effectively addresses issues like the high cost of external memory devices and the slow read speed of compensation parameters.

Furthermore, the chip integrates RRAM IP directly on the 28nm process node, enabling lower cost, smaller size, and higher efficiency.

Data shows that this mass-produced 28nm embedded RRAM image quality adjustment chip is not only the first domestically developed 28nm display chip in China but also the world’s first advanced commercial image quality adjustment chip to use 28nm embedded RRAM IP.

It possesses fully independent intellectual property rights. Its built-in RRAM memory module and core RRAM IP technology are derived from the transformation of research institute results, and the image quality adjustment algorithm is independently developed by Xianxin Technology.

• HKPU Develops a 16-bit Quantum Bit Semiconductor Microprocessor Chip

Recently, a research team from Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU) successfully developed the world’s first 16-bit quantum bit semiconductor microprocessor chip, providing a novel solution for simulating large and complex molecular spectra.

HKPU explained that the team used a linear photonic network and compressed vacuum quantum light source to simulate molecular vibration spectra. This 16-bit quantum microprocessor chip is manufactured and integrated on a single chip.

In addition, the research team also developed a complete system, including optoelectronic thermal packaging for the quantum photonic microprocessor chip and control module, driver software and user interface, as well as programmable underlying quantum algorithms. The developed quantum computing system can be applied to different computational models.

The quantum microprocessor can be used to handle complex tasks, such as faster and more accurate simulations of large protein structures or optimizing molecular reactions.

Dr. Zhu Huihui, a postdoctoral researcher and the first author of the research paper, stated that this method can break through traditional limitations, enabling early practical molecular simulations and potentially achieving quantum acceleration in related quantum chemistry applications.

It is reported that, in addition to HKPU, other collaborative institutions include Nanyang Technological University, City University of Hong Kong, Beijing Institute of Technology, Southern University of Science and Technology, Institute of Microelectronics (IME), and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

Read more

• [News] China’s Core AI Industry Achieved a Market Size of Nearly CNY 600 Billion
• [News] Nanjing, China Achieved Breakthrough in Manufacturing Key SiC Chip for the First Time

(Photo credit: Xianxin Technology)

After its 8-Hi HBM3e entered mass production in February, Micron officially introduced the 12-Hi HBM3e memory stacks on Monday, which features a 36 GB capacity, according to a report by Tom’s Hardware. The new products are designed for cutting-edge processors used in AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, including NVIDIA’s H200 and B100/B200 GPUs.

It is worth noting that the achievement has made the US memory chip giant almost on the same page with the current HBM leader, SK hynix. Citing Justin Kim, president and head of the company’s AI Infra division at SEMICON Taiwan last week, another report by Reuters notes that SK hynix is set to begin mass production of its 12-Hi HBM3e chips by the end of this month.

Samsung, on the other hand, is said to have completed NVIDIA’s quality test for the shipment of 8-Hi HBM3e memory, while the company is still working on the verification of its 12-Hi HBM3e.

Micron’s 12-Hi HBM3e memory stacks, according to Tom’s Hardware, feature a 36GB capacity, a 50% increase over the previous 8-Hi models, which had 24GB. This expanded capacity enables data centers to handle larger AI models, such as Meta AI’s Llama 2, with up to 70 billion parameters on a single processor. In addition, this capability reduces the need for frequent CPU offloading and minimizes communication delays between GPUs, resulting in faster data processing.

According to Tom’s Hardware, in terms of performance, Micron’s 12-Hi HBM3e stacks deliver over 1.2 TB/s. Despite offering 50% more memory capacity than competing products, Micron’s HBM3e consumes less power than the 8-Hi HBM3e stacks.

Regarding the future roadmap of HBM, Micron is said to be working on its next-generation memory solutions, including HBM4 and HBM4e. These upcoming memory technologies are set to further enhance performance, solidifying Micron’s position as a leader in addressing the increasing demand for advanced memory in AI processors, such as NVIDIA’s GPUs built on the Blackwell and Rubin architectures, the report states.

Read more

• [News] SK hynix to Begin 12-Stack HBM3e Mass Production, Marking Key Moment in HBM Battlefield
• [News] Samsung Likely Emerges as the Pacemaker for the AI Market if It Secures HBM3e Supply to NVIDIA

(Photo credit: Micron)