According to TianYanCha.com, the third phase of the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Co., Ltd. has recently been established in China. The legal representative is Zhang Xin, with a registered capital of RMB 344 billion.

The fund’s business scope includes private equity fund management, venture capital fund management services, and activities such as equity investment, investment management, and asset management through private equity funds, as well as business management consulting.

Shareholder information reveals that the company is jointly held by 19 shareholders, including the Ministry of Finance, China Development Bank Capital, Shanghai Guosheng Group, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of China.

As reported by the Commercial Times, the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, known as the Big Fund, was established in 2014. Its aim is to leverage fiscal funds to attract private capital, focusing on key segments of the integrated circuit industry chain, including chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing. The fund’s overall plan spans 15 years, highlighting a long-term strategic investment perspective.

The Big Fund not only provides financial support but also integrates resources, guides private capital investment, and promotes cooperation within the industry chain. These efforts have significantly enhanced the overall competitiveness of China’s integrated circuit industry. The fund plays a crucial role in advancing strategic national industries, accelerating industrial restructuring and upgrading, and strengthening national competitiveness.

The first phase of the National IC Industry Investment Fund, established in 2014, had a scale of approximately RMB 130 billion. Its primary goal was to support the development of the domestic semiconductor industry and reduce reliance on foreign chip technology. Public data indicates that its investments were distributed approximately as follows: 67% in integrated circuit manufacturing, 17% in design, 10% in packaging and testing, and 6% in equipment and materials, highlighting the manufacturing sector as a key focus.

The second phase of the National IC Industry Investment Fund was launched in 2019 with a scale of about RMB 200 billion, significantly larger than the first phase. While continuing to support the semiconductor industry, the second phase places greater emphasis on the upstream and downstream segments of the industry chain, including IC design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, and the R&D of related equipment and materials.

▲The detailed information of the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase Three Co., Ltd. as shown on TianYanCha.com.

(Photo credit: SMIC)

According to Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, UMC has recently engaged in discussions with global giants such as Texas Instruments and Infineon about long-term cooperation plans. Additionally, Taiwan’s two leading IC design companies, MediaTek and Realtek, have seen their inventories of WiFi 6/6E chips depleted, prompting them to increase their orders with UMC.

TrendForce recently reported that the White House announced on May 14th the imposition of additional tariffs on semiconductor products manufactured in China. This move has accelerated a shift in supply chain orders, leading Taiwanese foundries to receive increased orders, boosting capacity utilization beyond expectations.

For the second half of this year, Vanguard’s capacity utilization is expected to rise above 75%, PSMC’s 12-inch capacity utilization will reach 85-90%, and UMC’s overall capacity utilization will settle between 70-75%.

UMC’s orders from overseas clients are largely driven by the U.S. tariffs on Chinese semiconductor imports, which are projected to double to 50% by 2025. This has spurred a wave of supply chain relocations, with UMC leveraging its diverse manufacturing footprint to attract long-term cooperation plans from companies like Texas Instruments, Infineon, and Microchip.

From the perspective of Taiwanese market, UMC has benefited from a recent recovery in the networking sector. Taiwan’s top two WiFi 6 chip suppliers, MediaTek and Realtek, responding to customer restocking demands, have begun to increase their orders for WiFi chips with UMC.

Recent revenue data from Realtek indicates a rebound in the networking market. In April, Realtek’s consolidated revenue reached NT$10.068 billion, a 11.4% increase month-over-month and a 21.9% increase year-over-year, marking the first time in 20 months that monthly revenue has surpassed NT$10 billion.

MediaTek’s consolidated revenue in April was NT$42.028 billion, a 16.74% decrease month-over-month, yet still the second highest on record for the period, with a 48.25% year-over-year increase. Foundry sources indicate that MediaTek has placed additional orders for the third quarter, suggesting that networking customers are set to upgrade specifications this year.

UMC’s consolidated revenue in April was NT$19.741 billion, up 8.67% month-over-month and 6.93% year-over-year, reaching a 16-month high. UMC previously projected that as inventories in the computer, consumer, and communication sectors return to healthier levels, overall wafer shipments would see a slight increase this quarter. However, in the automotive and industrial sectors, slower-than-expected inventory digestion has kept demand subdued.

(Photo credit: UMC)

According to a report from global media Reuters, the Indian software company Zoho plans to invest USD 700 million in the chip manufacturing sector.

Founded in 1996 and currently headquartered in Tamil Nadu, India, Zoho provides software and related services to businesses across 150 countries.

Zoho is considering the production of compound semiconductors and is seeking incentives from the Indian government. The proposal is currently being reviewed by the committee responsible for promoting India’s chip initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Compound semiconductors are semiconductor materials composed of two or more different elements. Compared to traditional silicon (Si) semiconductors, compound semiconductors generally boast higher electron mobility, wider bandgap, and better thermal stability and radiation resistance. These properties make them suitable for applications that require high speed, high frequency, high temperature, and high efficiency. Compound semiconductor materials abound, among which silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are representatives. Currently, both materials are sought-after in consumer electronics and EV markets.

In recent years, India has actively promoted chip assembly and local production as a way of becoming a key player in global semiconductor market. The industry source points out that India’s chip initiative aims to strengthen the country’s position and competitiveness in global semiconductor industry through increased investment, international cooperation, infrastructure development, and talent cultivation.

In February 2024, India approved a semiconductor manufacturing investment plan totaling INR 1.26 trillion (USD 15.2 billion), covering wafer fabrication and chip packaging sectors, inclusive of India’s first fab, a collaboration between Tata Group and Powerchip.

The plant is expected to produce 50,000 wafers per month, covering multiple mature nodes including 28nm, 40nm, 55nm, 90nm, and 110nm. The goal is to produce 3 billion chips annually for various segments, such as high-power computing, EV, telecommunication, and power electronic.

Read more

• [News] 12-Inch Wafer Capacity Construction Going Full Steam
• [News] PSMC Collaborates with Tata to Establish India’s First Fab

(Photo credit: iStock)

Samsung Electronics and Synopsys jointly announced that the former has successfully taped out its first mobile system-on-chip (SoC) with its 3nm gate-all-around (GAA) process. According to Synopsys, Samsung used the Synopsys.ai EDA suite to help with the SoC’s layouts as well as design verification, to enhance its performance.

While it is important that Samsung utilized the Synopsys.ai suite for developing high-performance SoCs, it is also momentous progress as the semiconductor heavyweight finally tapes out its advanced smartphone APs with the node.

The unnamed high-performance mobile SoC from Samsung adopts a universal CPU and GPU architecture, along with various IP modules from Synopsys. The design team not only leveraged the Synopsys.ai EDA suite for fine-tuning designs, but the Synopsys DSO.ai to maximize its output. In addition, Samsung also targeted to achieve higher performance, lower power consumption, and optimized chip area (PPA) by leveraging Synopsys’ Fusion Compiler RTL-to-GDSII solution.

Although Samsung’s foundry has been using the GAA-based SF3E node for chip production over the past two years, it has never been used to produce chips in its own smartphones, nor on other SoCs. So far, the SF3E node has only been utilized for cryptocurrency mining chips, possibly due to the initially low yields of GAAFET nodes.

Though Samsung’s press release only indicates that this SoC has been produced with GAA nodes, and the company possesses more complex SF3 processes in addition to the first generation 3-nanometer SF3E, it is reasonable to speculate that it is SF3 given the timeline.

Kijoon Hong, vice president of SLSI at Samsung Electronics, stated that the company’s long-term collaboration with Synopsys enables leading SoC designs, showcasing the highest performance, power efficiency, and chip area on advanced mobile CPU cores and SoC designs. The tape out represents an important milestone, as it demonstrates how AI-driven solutions can help realize goals. With the help of the most advanced GAA transistor architecture, ultra-high-yield design systems can be established.

This SoC chip achieves a maximum clock speed increase of 300MHz and a 10% reduction in power consumption. Samsung’s SoC development team also utilized techniques such as design partitioning optimization, multi-source clock synthesis (MSCTS), and intelligent routing optimization to reduce signal interference, while other simpler layering methods have also been employed. According to official statements, with the boost of the Synopsys Fusion Compiler, the development process could skip weeks of ‘manual’ design time.”

Read more

• [News] South Korean Government Considering Cooperation with U.S. on Semiconductor Equipment Export Controls against China
• [News] Japan Makes Significant Investment in Semiconductors, Potentially Surpass South Korea Within a Decade

(Photo credit: Samsung)

According to a Reuters, despite the U.S. expanding export controls on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China last year, Chinese universities and research institutions have recently acquired high-end AI chips from Nvidia through distributors.

Reviewing hundreds of bidding documents, Reuters found that since the U.S. expanded chip export controls on November 17 last year, ten Chinese entities have acquired Nvidia’s advanced chips embedded in server products produced by U.S. firms Supermicro, Dell, and Taiwanese company Gigabyte Technology.

Based on this Reuters report, bidding documents not reported from November 20 last year to February 28 this year show that Chinese institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shandong Artificial Intelligence Institute, Hubei Earthquake Administration, Shandong University, Southwest University, a technology investment company owned by the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, a state-owned aerospace research center, and a space science center have purchased these server products from distributors, which include some of Nvidia’s most advanced chips.

In response, a Nvidia spokesperson told Reuters that the products involved in these bids were exported before the ban was implemented in the United States. The spokesperson stated that the report does not imply that Nvidia or any of its partners violated export control regulations, and the proportion of these products in global sales is negligible. Nvidia complies with U.S. regulatory standards.

Both Supermicro and Dell stated that they would investigate and take action if any third-party illegal exports or re-exports are found. Gigabyte, the Taiwanese company mentioned in the report, told the Central News Agency that it has fully complied with relevant regulations since the chip ban took effect on November 17 last year, and has not shipped any restricted products to China. Gigabyte reiterated its strict adherence to relevant Taiwanese laws and international embargo regulations, stating that there has been no violation of any embargo regulations.

In 2023, the United States further restricted Chinese businesses from acquiring high-end AI chips. At that time, Nvidia responded by launching a China-specific version, the H20. TrendForce also presented relevant data for the Chinese market, indicating that Chinese CSP companies, including ByteDance, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (BBAT), accounted for approximately 6.3% of high-end AI server shipments in 2023. Considering the ban and subsequent risks, it is estimated that the proportion in 2024 may be less than 4%.

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)