SK Hynix is rumored planning to build an advanced packaging fab worth USD 4 billion in West Lafayette, Indiana. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, it is expected to commence operations by 2028, creating up to 1,000 job opportunities. This initiative may receive support in the form of state and federal tax incentives.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal and Tom’s Hardware, SK Hynix’s investment aims to enhance its capabilities in advanced semiconductor packaging, with a particular emphasis on manufacturing High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

Considering a potential capital expenditure of USD 4 billion for the construction, per Tom’s Hardware, if the project proceeds, it will become one of the largest advanced packaging facilities globally. Hence, government support is crucial, with expectations of tax incentives from both state and federal levels in the US.

SK Hynix, a supplier of HBM memory for NVIDIA, is eyeing enhanced capabilities in advanced chip packaging, particularly crucial for manufacturing HBM. The recent NVIDIA Blackwell B200, with each GPU utilizing 8 HBM3e chips, has also underscored SK Hynix’s role in the critical components supply chain for the AI industry.

The recent CHIPS and Science Act allocated USD 8.5 billion to Intel, enhancing US semiconductor competitiveness. SK Hynix’s plan to build a fab in Indiana is a significant stride, fostering US semiconductor growth.

However, US subsidies for chip manufacturing and packaging have been slow, with only three American companies currently benefiting, including BAE Systems, GlobalFoundries, and Microchip Technology.

Reportedly, SK Hynix’s plan remains more of an intention statement than a finalized deal, and whether it proceeds to the construction phase remains to be seen.

Read more

• [News] SK Hynix Reportedly Invests USD 1 Billion in Advanced Packaging to Strengthen HBM Chip Leadership
• [News] SK Hynix Rumored to Propose Collaboration with Kioxia for HBM Production in Japan

(Photo credit: SK Hynix)

DRAM Spot Market:

DRAM spot prices continue to fall as channel demand has been tepid. Furthermore, the decline has become sharper recently for both DDR4 and DDR5 products. At the same time, spot traders who previously accumulated stockpiles are now eager to sell because the overall demand outlook is not particularly positive. Hence, spot prices, on the whole, are weakening. The average spot price of mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) fell by 0.77% from US$1.936 last week to US$1.921 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market:

Continuing from last week, spot prices are lingering at an amplified degree of declination under the persistently sluggish demand from the channel market, though at a slightly lighter sales pressure compared to that of DRAM. For 512Gb wafers, concluded prices are sitting on about US$3.9, which are lower than contract prices, and indicate the yet-to-be recovered level of consumer demand. 512Gb TLC wafer spots have dropped by 1.98% this week, arriving at US$3.764.

Despite Western chip equipment export bans, China reportedly has imported 32 lithography systems from the Netherlands in Jan-Feb 2024, marking a 256.1% YoY growth.

According to China Customs data, Jan-Feb 2024 imports from the Netherlands totaled USD 1.057 billion, up 256.1% YoY, but down 44.8% QoQ, with 32 systems imported. January saw USD 666 million imports, up 522% YoY, down 41% QoQ, with 20 systems; February recorded USD 390 million imports, up 105.9% YoY, down 41.4% QoQ, with 12 systems.

From the data, it’s evident that in 2024, China’s imports of lithography systems from the Netherlands saw significant growth compared to the same period last year, but a noticeable decline from the previous quarter. In the first two months, China’s imports of exposure machines from the Netherlands decreased by 44.8% compared to December last year.

Per a report from IJIWEI, the average price of lithography systems imported from the Netherlands to China has increased from USD 10 million per unit since May last year to USD 30 million per unit. As of the first two months of 2024, the average price remains above USD 30 million.

According to a report by China’s Media outlet ICsmart, in terms of imports based on domestic registration locations, from January to February 2024, a total of 9 provinces and cities imported lithography systems. The top 5 importers were Shanghai (USD 303 million), Beijing (USD 145 million), Shandong (USD 131 million), Sichuan (USD 131 million), and Guangdong (USD 117 million), accounting for 28.7%, 13.8%, 12.4%, 12.4%, and 11.1% respectively, totaling 78.4%.

In June 2023, the Netherlands announced restrictions on the export of chip manufacturing equipment. According to relevant export regulations, it became difficult for Chinese companies to obtain export licenses starting from January 1, 2024.

Thus, since the second half of 2023, there has been explosive growth in the amount of exposure machines imported from the Netherlands. As per a previous report from South China Morning Post, in November 2023, China witnessed a remarkable 1050% surge in the import value of crucial chip manufacturing lithography equipment from the Netherlands.

Read more

• [News] Surge in Chip Manufacturing Equipment Imports from the Netherlands to China, Soaring Tenfold After U.S. Tightens Restrictions
• [News] Reports of SMEE Successfully Developing 28nm Lithography Machine, Original Source Deleted Shortly After

(Photo credit: ASML)

In an interview with Chinese media Sina, Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, emphasized that AI is the most revolutionary technology in the past 50 years. She believes that AI-powered PCs will play a crucial role in driving the growth of the PC market this year.

Su led AMD’s AI PC Innovation Summit in Beijing last week, showcasing the development momentum within China’s AI PC ecosystem. She shared these insights during interviews with Sina, which was then published on March 26th.

Lisa Su asserts that AI is propelling a revolution, marking the most transformative technology in nearly 50 years, swiftly reshaping all facets of the tech industry. From data centers to AI-powered PCs and edge computing, AMD is excited about the opportunities presented by this new era of computing.

Su emphasizes that PCs serve as the daily tools for users to interact with AI through personalized experiences. Leveraging Ryzen AI’s leading edge and extensive ecosystem partnerships, AMD aims to deliver seamless AI experiences from the cloud to the PC.

Lisa Su acknowledges that the global PC market saw a decline post-pandemic, but anticipates some level of growth this year, driven by AI-powered PCs prompting consumers to upgrade their devices.

She believes that while most AI PCs currently target the high-end segment, over time, they are expected to penetrate every price range.

Regarding the applications of AI PCs, Su finds communication, productivity, and creativity particularly exciting. Many applications are still in their early stages, but she expects to see more developments in the coming years.

Lisa Su also mentioned a compelling incentive for people to upgrade to AI PCs: increased efficiency. She posed a question to the media, asking if users would be willing to purchase an AI PC if it could save them 5 hours of work per week. In her view, “everyone’s answer would be YES.”

AMD is strategically positioning itself in the AI market. In December last year, it announced that its accelerated processing unit (APU) MI300A had entered mass production, while the AI accelerator GPU MI300X had begun shipping. Meanwhile, its new Ryzen 8040 series laptop processors have also hit the market, aiming to capture the AI PC market.

To deliver AI experience on PCs, AMD utilizes three computing engines: CPU based on Zen architecture, GPU based on RDNA architecture, and the XDNA-based AI engine, also known as the Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Additionally, its Ryzen 8040 series processors offer leading-edge computing and AI experiences. By the end of this year, the company plans to engage over 150 independent software vendors in developing for Ryzen AI.

TrendForce previously issued an analysis in a press release, indicating that the AI PC market is propelled by two key drivers: Firstly, demand for terminal applications, mainly dominated by Microsoft through its Windows OS and Office suite, is a significant factor. Microsoft is poised to integrate Copilot into the next generation of Windows, making Copilot a fundamental requirement for AI PCs.

Secondly, Intel, as a leading CPU manufacturer, is advocating for AI PCs that combine CPU, GPU, and NPU architectures to enable a variety of terminal AI applications.

Read more

• [News] AMD Hosts Innovation Summit, CEO Lisa Su Highlights the Beginning of AIPC Era
• [News] NVIDIA and AMD Clash in AI Chip Market, as TSMC Dominates Orders with Strong Momentum in Advanced Processes

(Photo credit: AMD)

As generative AI applications fuel the era of high computing power, Foxconn’s connector subsidiary FIT announced on March 25th a cross-industry collaboration with MediaTek. Together, they will develop next-generation high-speed connectivity solutions, specifically Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), aiming to capitalize on the booming silicon photonics market.

According to a report from Economic Daily News, FIT and MediaTek have previously collaborated as upstream and downstream partners, with FIT being a leading manufacturer of custom ASIC sockets and having significant capacity for cooperation with upstream IC design firms.

This collaboration may mark their first joint venture in developing next-generation optical communication products, aiming to create CPO high-speed connectivity solutions using ASIC platforms and silicon photonics technology.

Foxconn Group Collaborates with MediaTek Across Industries

Industry sources cited by the report suggest that traditional data center transmission occurs on PCBs, whereas the CPO architecture is situated on the substrate, integrating optical communication components with switch into a module installed in a slot. This configuration shortens data transmission paths, reducing transmission losses and power consumption.

With the commercialization of generative AI, large language models require extensive computation within data centers, demanding high transmission rates to enhance operational efficiency. Traditional data transmission methods face significant signal loss, prolonging model training times and increasing power consumption. Consequently, the emergence of new network communication technology, CPO, addresses these challenges.

FIT asserts that CPO represents the next-generation optical communication transmission architecture, capable of shortening transmission paths, reducing transmission losses and signal delays, thereby providing more robust connectivity for AI computing and applications. It can be combined with the company’s existing optical communication products of 800G and 1.6T, forging ahead with next-generation network communication technology.

Through collaboration with MediaTek, they aim to offer customers more diverse and efficient connectivity solutions, driving the development of the era of high computational power.

MediaTek, as per the report, emphasized its commitment to adopting the industry’s most advanced processes, packaging technologies, and architectures, providing customers with diverse ASIC design platforms.

This initiative aims to offer the latest and comprehensive solutions to the rapidly growing data center and server markets. Collaborating with FIT on CPO further enhances their ability to deliver next-generation high-speed transmission solutions, thereby creating new market opportunities for customers.

Read more

• [News] Silicon Photonics Reshapes the Future; TSMC, ASE Ready to Seize Market Share
• [News] Foxconn Capitalizes on AI Opportunities? Reportedly Looking at Apple’s AI Server Market, B200 Also Poised to Succeed

(Photo credit: Foxconn)