The global semiconductor supply chain may face disruption as the Samsung Electronics union announces its first-ever company strike on June 7. According to a report from BBC, approximately 28,000 union members, accounting for more than 20% of Samsung’s total workforce, are expected to participate. The union accuses the company of long-term neglect of employees’ and the union’s demands.

Samsung Electronics is a major subsidiary of the Samsung Group, primarily responsible for the design, production, and assembly of consumer electronics, semiconductors, and communication devices. In the wafer foundry sector, Samsung is a key competitor to TSMC, with the two giants vying for leadership in advanced manufacturing processes.

In addition to its impact on the foundry industry, Samsung is also one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers and a leader in memory production. It is among the few global companies capable of integrating advanced memory chips into generative artificial intelligence technology.

Samsung is now facing the impact of a strike, which could further affect the global semiconductor supply chain.

However, as per industry sources cited by TechNews, it’s suggested that the strike by the Samsung union is unlikely to impact plant operations significantly.

As the union announces the strike, there has also been a significant shake-up in the chip division’s leadership. Young Hyun Jun has been appointed as the new head of the Device Solutions (DS) division, responsible for leading the company’s semiconductor business.

Per a report from Reuters, a source has noted that since Samsung’s personnel changes typically occur at the beginning of the year, it is unusual to replace a high-ranking executive like this in the middle of the year.

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(Photo credit: Samsung)

As the demand for AI chips keeps booming, memory giants have been aggressive in their HBM roadmaps. SK hynix, with its leading market position in HBM3e, has now revealed more details regarding HBM4e. According to reports by Wccftech and ET News, SK hynix plans to further distinguish itself by introducing an HBM variant capable of supporting multiple functionalities including computing, caching, and network memory.

While this concept is still in the early stages, SK hynix has begun acquiring semiconductor design IPs to support its objectives, the aforementioned reports noted.

According to ET News, the memory giant intends to establish the groundwork for a versatile HBM with its forthcoming HBM4 architecture. The company reportedly plans to integrate a memory controller onboard, paving the way for new computing capabilities with its 7th-generation HBM4e memory.

By employing SK hynix’s technique, the package will become a unified unit. This will not only ensure faster transfer speeds due to significantly reduced structural gaps but also lead to higher power efficiencies, according to the reports.

Previously in April, SK hynix announced that it has been collaborating with TSMC to produce next-generation HBM and enhance logic and HBM integration through advanced packaging technology. The company plans to proceed with the development of HBM4 slated to be mass produced from 2026, in the initiative.

As more details relating to HBM4 have been revealed now, the memory heavyweight seems to extend its leading market position in HBM3 by addressing the semiconductor aspect of the HBM structure, Wccftech said.

According to TrendForce’s analysis earlier, as of early 2024, the current landscape of the HBM market is primarily focused on HBM3. NVIDIA’s upcoming B100 or H200 models will incorporate advanced HBM3e, signaling the next step in memory technology. The current HBM3 supply for NVIDIA’s H100 solution is primarily met by SK hynix, leading to a supply shortfall in meeting burgeoning AI market demands.

In late May, SK hynix has disclosed yield details regarding HBM3e for the first time. According to a report from the Financial Times, the memory giant has successfully reduced the time needed for mass production of HBM3e chips by 50%, while close to achieving the target yield of 80%.

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• [News] SK Hynix Revealed Progress for HBM3e, Achieving Nearly 80% Yield
• [News] SK Hynix Partners with TSMC to Strengthen HBM Technological Leadership

(Photo credit: SK hynix)

According to Daily Telegraph, Coherent’s fab located in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, Northern England, is facing potential sale or closure as Apple ceased a supply agreement. Currently, the plant is under review, which might turn out to be sold. Coherent has issued a last-time-buy notice to its customers.

The UK fab primarily manufactured III-V compound semiconductor RF microelectronics and optoelectronic devices for communications, aerospace and defense sectors. The collaboration between the plant and Apple involved Face ID feature in iPhones.

However, Apple had put an end to the related key product supply contract with Coherent in late fiscal 2023. In its latest financial report, Coherent noted a significant decline in sales of VCSEL products for 3D sensing in Apple’s iPhones, which had a remarkable impact on the company’s overall revenue.

It’s worth noting that Coherent’s fab laid off over 100 employees in April 2023, retaining around 250. Later, Coherent indicated in the last-time-buy notice that Apple’s termination of the supply agreement further placed the ongoing viability of the business in doubt. A strategic review is undertaken, with potential new technologies or a sale as options under consideration. It remains to be seen if the UK government will weigh in to broker a sale to an acceptable buyer.

• Apple’s Supply Chain Changes with the Evolution of VCSEL Technologies

Likewise, another optical and photonics device manufacturer, Lumentum, has fallen into a similar situation. Per foreign media reports in March 2024, Lumentum would dismiss 750 staffs, which accounts for 10% of its global workforce at the time.

Lumentum is a core supplier of VCSEL lasers for Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro series. However, Ming-Chi Kuo, renowned Apple analyst, revealed in early 2023 that Sony would replace Lumentum in design, and become the exclusive supplier of VCSEL products for the LiDAR scanner in the iPhone 15 Pro series. This variation implies a reduced market share for Lumentum in the VCSEL segment of iPhone.

Indeed, Apple has consistently updated its technologies in smartphones, resulting in corresponding structural and design adjustments and changes in its supplier lineup.

TrendForce’s latest research report, “2024 Infrared Sensing Application Market and Branding Strategies,” shows iPhone 15 Pro adopts Sony’s stacked structure technology, which integrates the VCSEL, driver IC, SPAD, and ISP (ASIC Chip) in a stacked structure. This approach significantly reduces system size while achieving high-speed response and high output power, providing better LiDAR scanning performance at the same power level, extending battery lifespan, and enhancing camera and augmented reality capabilities.

Furthermore, TrendForce’s survey reveals that Apple plans to introduce MetaLens technology in 2024 to reduce the size of emitting components, and to adopt under-display 3D sensing technology in 2027 to increase the display screen ratio. Under-display 3D sensing uses short-wave infrared VCSEL (SWIR VCSEL) to reduce interference from sunlight and ambient light and minimize the occurrence of white spots. Noticeably, 1,130nm VCSEL has achieved a PCE (Photoelectric Conversion Efficiency) of over 30%, and currently, ams OSRAM’s 1,130nm VCSEL can already deliver superior performance, enabling it to come out on top in the market.

Thereby, it is evident that the continuous evolution of Apple’s iPhone 3D sensing solutions has caused striking changes in the VCSEL ecosystem. With new manufacturers like Sony entering the supply chain, Coherent and Lumentum are suffering a gradual decline in their market shares.

• More Opportunities Emerge amid the Overwhelming Trend of AI

While consumer electronics remain a crucial market for VCSEL technology, the global AI wave is driving its increasing importance in data center, optical communication, and automotive LiDAR, which will position VCSEL as a vital support for implementing AI functionalities. For example, VCSEL is a perfect fit for short-distance optical interconnections in data center, underpinning the operation of cloud and edge computing infrastructure integral to AI computing.

Currently, photonics manufacturers are already gearing up to develop higher-performance VCSEL technology to meet potential demands in high-growth application areas such as AI, high-performance computing (HPC), networking, and automotive LiDAR. In this context, VCSEL market demand and market size are expected to enjoy ongoing growth, presenting more opportunities for related manufacturers and infusing new vigour into their business growth.

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• [News] Apple COO Rumored to Make Secret Visit to TSMC, Booking Advanced Capacity for AI In-house Chips
• [News] Apple Unveiled M4 Chip for AI, Heralding a New Era of AI PC

(Photo credit: Apple)

According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, the weak demand is putting more and more pressure on sellers, causing spot prices of modules and chips continue to record a sharper fall than the week before. Meanwhile, regarding NAND Flash prices, the spot market continued to drop this week, while suppliers are thus hoping that the traditional peak season (3Q24) would generate additional demand. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:

Trading activities have further slowed down in the spot market compared with last week. Since it is now near the end of May, the weak demand situation is putting more and more pressure on sellers, and spot prices of modules and chips continue to fall. The average spot price of mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) has dropped by 0.42% from US$1.917 last week to US$1.909 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Price:

The spot market is seeing activities of truncation due to suppliers’ pressure in funds yielded by their excessive inventory, and the chaotic negotiation of prices has been widened in scale, though inquiries on market prices and transactions are maintained on the lesser end under lethargic demand. Suppliers are thus hoping that the traditional peak season (3Q24) would generate additional demand, and prompt the market to get rid of further inventory. Spot prices, as a result, continued to drop this week. 512Gb TLC wafers have dropped by 2.79% in spot prices this week, arriving at US$3.479.

According to a report on May 29th from The Korea Economic Daily, it has speculated that AMD is likely to become a customer of Samsung Electronics’ 3nm GAA process. Reportedly, during AMD CEO Lisa Su’s appearance at the 2024 ITF World, which was hosted by the Belgian microelectronics research center imec, Lisa Su revealed that AMD plans to use the 3nm GAA process for mass-producing next-generation chips.

As per the same report, Lisa Su stated that 3nm GAA transistors can enhance efficiency and performance, with improvements in packaging and interconnect technology. This will make AMD products more cost-effective and power-efficient. The report further addresses that Samsung is currently the only chip manufacturer with commercialized 3nm GAA process technology.

Samsung announced in June, 2022, that it has started initial production of its 3 nm process node applying Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor architecture. It claims that compared to 5nm process, the first-generation 3nm process can reduce power consumption by up to 45%, improve performance by 23% and reduce area by 16% compared to 5nm, while the second-generation 3nm process is to reduce power consumption by up to 50%, improve performance by 30% and reduce area by 35%.

An industry source cited by the report indicated that Su’s remarks could be interpreted as AMD planning to officially collaborate with Samsung on 3nm technology. Reports suggest that AMD is preparing to partner with Samsung, as TSMC’s 3nm production capacity has been fully booked by customers like Apple and Qualcomm.

The collaboration between the two companies could be traced back to April this year, as per a report from Korean media outlet viva100, Samsung was said to had signed a new USD 3 billion agreement with processor giant AMD to supply HBM3e 12-layer DRAM for use in the Instinct MI350 series AI chips. Reportedly, Samsung also agreed to purchase AMD GPUs in exchange for HBM products, although details regarding the specific products and quantities involved remain unclear.

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• [News] Samsung Reportedly Signs USD 3 Billion HBM3e Deal with AMD
• [News] AI Chip Alone Can’t Hold Up? AMD’s Fiscal Forecast This Quarter Reportedly Falls Short of Expectations

(Photo credit: AMD)