According to a report from wccftech, leading semiconductor foundry TSMC is preparing to increase the prices of its 3nm and 5nm processes. Reportedly, this move is said to maintain its long-term gross profit margin of 53% and secure its leadership position in the semiconductor foundry market.

The report notes that considering the high demand for AI, along with orders for consumer products from IC design companies like Apple and Qualcomm, TSMC’s production capacity remains tight.

Therefore, TSMC is reportedly planning to increase the prices of its advanced processes, such as 3nm and 5nm, by 8%, thereby ensuring stable long-term profit margins. Notably, a previous report from Commercial Times have cited sources, indicating that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang once agreed that TSMC’s pricing is too low and will support its price increase actions.

Although the price increase has been rumored for some time, the sources cited by wccftech indicate that TSMC may implement the hike soon.

Currently, TSMC’s 3nm and 5nm process utilization rates are at 100%, indicating complete market dominance in these processes. This already allows TSMC to profit significantly, and the price increase will further benefit their operations.

In addition to advanced processes, there are rumors that TSMC is also raising the price of CoWoS packaging due to the massive demand for AI chips from AMD and NVIDIA. Although specific figures have not been disclosed, TSMC’s rapid expansion of its CoWoS production lines makes the price increase likely.

It’s previously estimated by sources cited in MoneyDJ’s report that TSMC’s CoWoS capacity remains in short supply, at 35,000 to 40,000 wafers per month this year. With the additional outsourced capacity, next year’s production could reach over 65,000 wafers per month, or possibly higher.

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(Photo credit: TSMC)

Driven by AI demand, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced on August 5 that global semiconductor sales for the second quarter of this year increased by 18.3% year-over-year and 6.5% quarter-over-quarter, reaching USD 149.9 billion.

SIA data shows that in June 2024, global semiconductor sales increased by 18.3% year-over-year and 1.7% month-over-month, reaching USD 50 billion.

In terms of sales by country or region, in June alone, the U.S. market recorded USD 14.77 billion in sales in June, posting a 42.8% year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, sales in China reached USD 15.09 billion, marking a 21.6% year-over-year increase.

Aside from the U.S. and China, the Asia Pacific and other areas saw sales of USD 12.15 billion in June, marking a 12.7% year-over-year increase. In contrast, Japan experienced a 5% decrease to USD 3.78 billion, and Europe saw an 11.2% decrease to USD 4.18 billion.

Comparing these figures to May, U.S. sales grew by 6.3%, while sales in Japan and China increased by 1.8% and 0.8%, respectively. However, European sales decreased by 1%, and sales in the Asia Pacific and other areas declined by 1.4%.

SIA President and CEO John Neuffer stated that the semiconductor market continued to perform well in the second quarter of 2024. This quarter’s sales have surpassed the record set in the fourth quarter of 2021 after a gap of two and a half years, and have also seen a sequential increase for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2023.

The SIA recently forecasted that global semiconductor sales will grow by 16% in 2024, reaching USD 611.2 billion, and will further increase to USD 687.4 billion next year, continuing to set new historical records. According to the SIA, the primary driver of this growth is the booming development of generative AI, which is boosting overall industry demand.

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(Photo credit: TSMC)

According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, neither did the DRAM nor NAND spot prices sees much momentum. DDR5 products are relatively stable, while the spot prices of DDR4 products continue to fall gradually due to high inventory levels. As for NAND flash, the spot market saw no apparent changes from last week at a restricted level of transactions also due to sufficient inventory. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:

The market has not shown notable changes in terms of momentum, and spot prices of DDR5 products are relatively stable. As for DDR4 products, spot prices continue to fall gradually due to high inventory levels. Overall, spot trading is quite limited in terms of volume due to the constraint imposed by weak consumer demand. The average spot price of the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) dropped by 0.10% from US$1.991 last week to US$1.989 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Price:

The spot market saw no apparent changes from last week at a restricted level of transactions also due to sufficient inventory. Spot prices of 512Gb TLC wafers have risen by 1.17% this week, arriving at US$3.291.

According to a report from Reuters citing industry sources, Samsung Electronics’ fifth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM3e) have passed tests by NVIDIA and could be used in NVIDIA’s AI processors.

The report further indicates that while no supply contract has been signed yet, one is expected soon, with potential deliveries starting in the fourth quarter of this year. The news also notes that the tested HBM3e chips are 8-layer, while Samsung’s 12-layer HBM3e have yet passed test.

However, in response to the matter, Samsung Electronics stated in a report from BusinessKorea on August 7 that they could not confirm stories related to their customers and that the report was not true.

The Samsung Electronics official cited by BusinessKorea also mentioned that, as previously stated during a conference call last month, the quality testing is still ongoing and there have been no updates since then.

Samsung had been working since last year to become a supplier of NVIDIA’s HBM3 and HBM3e. In late July, it is said that Samsung’s HBM3 has passed NVIDIA’s qualification, and would be used in the AI giant’s H20, which has been developed for the Chinese market in compliance with U.S. export controls.

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• [News] Samsung’s HBM3e Rumored to be Certified by NVIDIA, Boosting DDR5 Price Increases in Q3
• [News] Samsung’s HBM3e Reportedly Passed NVIDIA’s Certification Though It Denies the Rumor

(Photo credit: Samsung)

While surrounded by concerns raised by the USD 1.6 billion net loss in Q2 and the large-scale layoff plan, Intel has finally shared some good news. It announced on August 6^th that its next-gen 18A process has achieved a major milestone, and will start production in 2025.

The semiconductor giant states that the milestone has been achieved less than two quarters after tape-out, and confirms that two of its next-gen products, Panther Lake (AI PC client processor) and Clearwater Forest (server processor), will be fabricated with the node. The first external customer is expected to tape out on Intel 18A in the first half of next year, according to its press release.

The company also gives an advance notice on the progress of the aforementioned two processors. According to Intel, Clearwater Forest will mark the industry’s first mass-produced, high-performance solution combining RibbonFET, PowerVia, and Foveros Direct 3D for higher density and power handling. In addition, Panther Lake DDR memory performance is already running at target frequency.

Earlier in July, Intel released the 18A Process Design Kit (PDK) 1.0, design tools that enable foundry customers to harness the capabilities of RibbonFET gate-all-around transistor architecture and PowerVia backside power delivery in their designs on Intel 18A.

It is worth noting that Intel’s 18A is the company’s second fabrication technology, following 20A, to employ RibbonFET and PowerVia. A report by Tom’s Hardware notes that compared to Intel’s 2nm-class node, 18A offers an optimized RibbonFET design and additional enhancements, resulting in a 10% increase in performance per watt, which makes it especially fitted for data center-class products that require significant power.

The report also notes that Intel 18A is a process that Intel Foundry’s potential customers are very interested in, as some believed it to be more competitive than TSMC’s 3nm and 2nm-class offerings, which are expected to be available between 2024 and 2025.

On the other hand, TSMC, the global foundry leader, said earlier in the earnings call that it’s 2nm (N2) node is progressing well, and will begin mass production in 2025. The company is also on track to launch the N2P and A16 processes in the second half of 2026.

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(Photo credit: Intel)