In order to counter the competition from chip rivals such as AMD and NVIDIA, Intel reportedly plans to scale up its outsourcing efforts by handing over to TSMC more 3nm orders for its upcoming Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake chipsets in 2025, according to industrial sources cited by Commercial Times.

TSMC will continue to secure a large volume of outsourced business from IDMs, maintaining a strong cooperative relationship with Intel, acording to the Commercial Times report.

According to the report, Intel aims high for Arrow Lake as the chipset will feature two TPUs (Tensor Processing Units), allowing it to maintain high performance and high clock speeds while reducing power consumption by at least 100 watts. As the result, the product is regarded by Intel as a critical advantage for maintaining its lead in the AI PC market.

Intel’s Arrow Lake, its 15th generation CPU, features significant changes in both architecture and manufacturing process, along with a new name—Core Ultra 200S, according to its press release.

According to the Commercial Times, the processor is not only built using TSMC’s 3nm process, with a substantial reduction in computational core area and energy consumption, but also moving away from the traditional SoC design by adopting Intel’s exclusive 3D Foveros technology.

Foveros, Intel’s 3D advanced packaging technology, is a first-of-its-kind solution that enables the building of processors with compute tiles stacked vertically, rather than side-by-side, according to its press release. The focus of this new design is on energy efficiency, reducing packaging power consumption, and enhancing multi-core performance, the report notes.

According to the supply chain sources cited by the Commercial Times report, the Intel 7-Series chipsets in the 13th and 14th generations, in spite of adopting an 8P+16E (8 Performance-core and 16 Efficient-core) core configuration, the compute tile area still accounted for as much as 70% of the total chip area. However, by switching to TSMC’s 3nm process, the same core configuration now takes up only a third of the total area, while allowing the space for an additional NPU unit.

Though Intel has not given up its foundry unit, the struggling giant does seem to gradually loose competitiveness in advanced nodes, and it has outsourced several products to TSMC. The company’s latest flagship AI processor, Gaudi 3, is fabricated with TSMC’s 5nm.

Recently, in order to reduce costs and better prepare for its in-house 18A process, Intel has decided to abandon the introduction of the 20A node, and leverages TSMC’s process for the Arrow Lake chipset.

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• [News] Intel Impresses the Market with Upbeat Q4 Guidance; 18A to Begin High-Volume Production in 2H25
• [News] Intel Shifts to TSMC for Chip Production: A Looming Threat for AMD?

(Photo credit: Intel)

According to a report from MoneyDJ, Japan’s major NAND Flash manufacturer Kioxia plans to go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by June 2025, leveraging Japan’s newly introduced IPO application process to shorten procedural timelines.

According to the report, Kioxia aims for an IPO within the period from December 2024 to June 2025, using the “S-1 Method” introduced in October 2023 to expedite the listing process. Depending on market conditions, the company is also exploring the possibility of listing as early as December 2024.

The report indicates that Kioxia plans to submit its securities registration statement to the Financial Services Agency on November 8th, targeting a market valuation exceeding JPY 1 trillion (USD 6.5 billion).

According to the report, Japan’s traditional IPO process requires companies to get Tokyo Stock Exchange approval, then file a securities registration statement with the Financial Services Agency before setting an offering price with investors. The new “S-1 Method” allows filing and investor discussions to start before approval, cutting the time to public offering from about a month to 10 days.

According to a report in the Reuters, Kioxia is the first company to use the new rules permitting firms to gauge investor interest prior to seeking listing approval from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Reuters report indicates that Kioxia anticipates receiving approval from the bourse in late November, with an indicative share price to be revealed around that time.

The report in MoneyDJ mentioned that previously, Kioxia had filed for listing with the Tokyo Stock Exchange in August, with plans to go public in October. However, due to a downturn in the semiconductor market and inability to secure favorable valuations, the IPO was postponed.

According to MoneyDJ, referencing another report from Reuters, the slow recovery in the memory chip market has led investors to urge Kioxia’s major shareholder, U.S. investment firm Bain Capital, to cut the company’s IPO valuation target from JPY 1.5 trillion to nearly half that amount. This investor pressure caused Bain to drop plans for an October IPO.

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• [News] Kioxia Projects NAND Demand to Triple by 2028 as It Gears up for Expansion amid AI Boom
• [News] Why Is Kioxia Delaying Its IPO? Market Valuation Reportedly Half of Target

(Photo credit: Kioxia)

According to Tom’s Hardware, citing a report from HardwareLuxx, Intel has postponed  its Magdeburg fab project to 2029-2030, raising concerns in Germany about whether the allocated funding should be returned to the federal budget.

The German government took some time to secure €10 billion in funding for Intel’s Fab 29 project near Magdeburg. However, construction has faced multiple delays due to various challenges, including Intel’s worsening financial situation. These issues have ultimately led to a temporary halt in the project, pushing its completion timeline further into the future.

The report from Tom’s Hardware indicates that Intel has decided to delay the project restart until 2029 or 2030. If the project is indeed halted until then, it would severely impact Germany’s semiconductor industry development plans and raise concerns about the future use of the €10 billion in subsidies initially allocated to Intel, including whether these funds should be reallocated.

The report pointed out that, according to the original plan, Intel was expected to receive the first portion of the €10 billion subsidy in 2024, which was approximately €3.96 billion. However, with the project on hold, these funds are now postponed.

The report highlighted that Germany’s Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, has advocated reallocating the subsidy to meet other economic needs, which could help Germany’s finances amid current economic pressures. However, Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck opposes this approach, arguing that the funding should continue to support long-term economic growth and environmental initiatives.

As for whether Intel can soon restart the project, the report indicated that, citing industry sources, given Intel’s current financial difficulties, the probability of the Magdeburg fab project resuming is now less than 50%, and there is a significant chance that Intel may ultimately abandon the project entirely.

Furthermore, the report pointed out that if Intel decides to proceed with the Magdeburg fab, it may need to renegotiate with the German federal government over subsidy details, while given the global economic environment over the next few years, securing large subsidies may be challenging.

On the other hand, if Intel ultimately abandons the Magdeburg fab project, Germany would also face issues related to land use. The report noted that the initial land development was tailored specifically for this facility, which could make it difficult to repurpose the site efficiently in the short term, potentially hindering local economic development plans.
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• [News] Intel’s Plant Delay Casts Doubt on German Economy, with Chances of Proceeding Estimated at No More than 50%
• [News] Intel’s 1nm-class Fabs in Germany Reportedly Delayed Due to Black Soil Concerns and Pending EU Subsidy Approval

(Photo credit: Intel)

According to a report in Commercial Times, the leading Chinese semiconductor foundry, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), released its financial report for the third quarter on the evening of November 7. Due to robust growth in wafer production capacity and sales, SMIC’s revenue in the third quarter increased by 14% sequentially to USD 2.17 billion, a record high, reaching the milestone of USD 2 billion in a single quarter for the first time.

As for the Q4 guidance, however, the forecast is relatively muted. According to its press release, SMIC forecasts a 2% year-over-year increase in revenue for the fourth quarter. The company also expects its gross profit margin for the fourth quarter to be between 18% and 20%.

According to a report in the Reuters, in its third-quarter earnings call, SMIC CEO Zhao Haijun noted that current oversupply conditions are prompting the company to adopt a more cautious approach to capacity expansion. Zhao pointed out that industry utilization rates are around 70%, well below the optimal 85%, reflecting significant overcapacity. He warned that this overcapacity, especially in mature node chips, is likely to persist through 2025, if not worsen. As a result, SMIC was cautious on building new capacity.

In its press release, SMIC reported a 34% increase year-over-year in revenue for the period, reaching USD 2.17 billion. The gross profit was USD 444.2 million, and the gross margin was 20.5%, compared to 13.9% in 2Q24 and 19.8% in 3Q23.

According to Commercial Times, citing Wallstreetcn, SMIC’s financial report indicated that its wafer sales in the third quarter increased by 38% year-over-year to 2.122 million units. Additionally, the company added a monthly production capacity of 21,000 12-inch wafers in the third quarter, further optimizing its product structure and increasing the average selling price.

The Commercial Times report pointed out, citing Wallstreetcn, in terms of revenue composition, the revenue share from 8-inch wafers dropped by 4.5 percentage points from the previous year to 21.5%, while the revenue share for 12-inch wafers reached 78.5%.

According to another report by Reuters, SMIC is primarily known for producing mature node chips for standard electronic devices. However, the company is also involved in manufacturing advanced chips for Huawei’s high-end smartphones, including the Mate 60, launched last August, and the Pura 70 series, released in April.

According to a report from Wccftech, it was rumored that SMIC is able to produce 5nm chips for Huawei this year, without the need for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines manufactured by Dutch company ASML, but later it was indicated that Huawei’s next Kirin SoC for the Mate 70 Series will still be limited to the 7nm process but will utilize a more refined “N+3” node, according to another report by Wccftech.

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• [News] Huawei’s Mate 70 Will Reportedly Use a Kirin SoC Made with SMIC’s 7nm Node instead of 5nm
• [News] SMIC Reportedly to Manufacture 5nm Chips for Huawei Without EUV Machinery

Amid the passion of the wild election, U.S. chip giant Qualcomm reported an upbeat first-quarter (ended December 31) sales forecast, with revenue rising between USD 10.5 billion and USD 11.3 billion, eyeing for an over 10% quarter-over-quarter growth at most. The strong momentum, according to a report by Reuters, could be attributed to the smartphone market recovery led by China.

Boosted by New Smartphone Launches led by Xiaomi, Oppo

It is worth noting that China remains Qualcomm’s largest market, and the momentum is driven by new smartphone releases from brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, according to the report. Qualcomm has derived 46% of its revenue in its most recent fiscal year from customers with headquarters in China, Reuters says.

A previous report by the South China Morning Post suggests that China’s smartphone maker Xiaomi will be the first to equip Qualcomm’s newly-released Snapdragon 8 Elite with its Xiaomi 15 series at the end of October, followed by other local smartphone brands such as Honor, Oppo’s OnePlus and Realme.

As the smartphone market starts to rebound following a challenging 2023, Qualcomm’s positive outlook is said to be driven by consumers upgrading devices for AI applications like chatbots and image generation tools, Reuters notes.

Business Expansion beyond Apple Remains Key  

On the other hand, Qualcomm is working hard to diversify its revenue streams in anticipation of the eventual end of its profitable partnership with Apple, which is developing its own modem chips to replace Qualcomm’s. According to Reuters, though the agreement to supply chips to Apple lasts until at least 2026, attention is on whether Qualcomm’s expansion into laptops and AI-driven data centers will grow swiftly enough to balance any future reductions in Apple-related revenue.

Regarding the potential impact if President-elect Donald Trump does impose broad tariffs of 10% to 20% on nearly all imports, with potential tariffs exceeding 60% on Chinese goods, Reuters notes that if higher tariffs were applied to chips from Taiwan, though rather unlikely, could incentivize Qualcomm to shift manufacturing to the U.S.

For the fourth quarter (ended September 30), Qualcomm posted a net income of USD 2.92 billion, or USD 2.59 per share, marking a significant increase from last year’s USD 1.49 billion, or USD 1.23 per share. The company’s total revenue for fiscal 2024 reached USD 38.9 billion, a 9% rise compared to 2023, according to its press release.

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• [News] Qualcomm Rumored to Decide Its Next Move Regarding Potential Intel Acquisition after US Election

(Photo credit: Qualcomm)