A senior government official in Malaysia has stated that the country will prioritize attracting investments in high-tech industries such as semiconductor and electric vehicles to solidify its status as a manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia within the global supply chain.

Sikh Shamsul Ibrahim, the Senior Executive Director of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), made this announcement during the Kuala Lumpur Economic Forum. He emphasized that in the face of ongoing trade wars and geopolitical tensions, Malaysia’s goal is to leverage the realignment and redistribution of global supply chains.

Ibrahim further stated that they are placing a strong emphasis on enhancing supply chain resilience and fostering closer collaborations with their trade partners. He also pointed out that they are actively exploring priority sectors with a particular focus on high-growth industries, including semiconductors, electric vehicles, and renewable energy.

In addition, Sikh Shamsul Ibrahim highlighted the government’s objective to introduce tiered corporate tax incentive measures, as per the 2024 budget plan, to attract investments in high-value and high-growth industries.

In September of this year, Malaysia unveiled a new industrial master plan that includes a $19.91 billion investment over seven years to advance its manufacturing capabilities. Key sectors in this initiative encompass electronics, chemicals, and electric vehicles, with the country also aiming to create 3.3 million new job opportunities.

(Image credit: Pixabay)

What started as a groundbreaking acquisition in the SiC/GaN third-generation semiconductor and power semiconductor sector came to a satisfying conclusion on October 24th.

In March 2023, the leading power semiconductor manufacturer, Infineon, announced its plan to acquire GaN Systems, a top Canadian producer of GaN chips, for $830 million. After over half a year of negotiations and regulatory approvals, the transaction officially closed on October 24, 2023. With this, GaN Systems is now officially part of Infineon, and the synergistic effect of this powerhouse alliance is set to make a significant impact.

Currently, Infineon boasts a workforce of 450 GaN technology experts and holds more than 350 GaN technology patents. GaN Systems, on the other hand, ranks among the world’s top five GaN power device manufacturers. According to TrendForce’s “2023 GaN Power Device Market Analysis Report-Part 1,” GaN Systems held a 12% market share based on revenue in 2022, securing the fifth spot globally. In addition, GaN Systems made early inroads into the high-growth automotive power semiconductor market and secured orders from renowned automaker BMW.

From a technological, application, customer base, and market influence perspective, it’s evident that the acquisition of GaN Systems complements Infineon’s position in compound semiconductor and power semiconductor market. This collaboration creates synergies that significantly benefit Infineon.

As Infineon stated, this move further expands their leadership in the power semiconductor sector and substantially reduces the time to market for new products. Both companies complement each other in terms of intellectual property, a deep understanding of applications, and well-established customer project planning, providing a highly favorable environment for Infineon to meet the demands of various rapidly growing applications.

The landscape of the GaN power semiconductor market may undergo significant changes

In the future, the competition landscape within the entire compound semiconductor market, especially in the GaN power semiconductor sector, is likely to undergo significant changes, marking the onset of an integration phase in industry chain competition.

As for the GaN power component market, up until 2023, Infineon had not secured a position among the world’s top manufacturers. However, following the merger, Infineon is poised to join the top ranks. Based on 2022 data, TrendForce’s estimate indicate that the combined market share of both companies could reach 15%, on par with EPC’s 2022 market share of 15%, and there is a potential for surpassing it in the future.

For the compound semiconductor market, it’s worth noting that, in addition to acquiring GaN Systems this year, Infineon has been making further inroads into the GaN field. In simple terms, its involvement in the GaN power semiconductor market is continuously strengthening.

In May of this year, Infineon announced its participation in a collaborative European research project named “ALL2GaN,” joined by 45 partner organizations, with a project budget of €60 million. The project is focused on developing integrated GaN power designs from chips to modules, primarily catering to applications in telecommunications, data centers, and server facilities. Infineon leads the ALL2GaN project, with other participants including imec, a Belgian microelectronics research center, Nexperia, Ericsson, and other enterprises.

Through accumulating expertise from this project, Infineon’s influence in the European GaN power semiconductor field is expected to further enhance. In the Asian market, Infineon operates a factory in Malaysia, with a current focus on SiC (Silicon Carbide). GaN Systems has established offices in Shenzhen and Taiwan, demonstrating an increased commitment to the Asia-Pacific region.

GaN Systems has also reinforced its presence in the European and American markets. Firstly, its Canadian headquarters in Ottawa has undergone a threefold expansion. Secondly, GaN Systems has inaugurated a new design center in Dallas, Texas, gradually expanding its business scope in North America and Europe, while comprehensively advancing its global expansion plan.

Considering these developments, Infineon is poised to conduct its global operations more effectively, gaining a more influential role in the GaN power semiconductor market. This is expected to lead to a gradual increase in business scale and market share.

Furthermore, the collaboration between these two industry giants is set to catalyze the industrialization of GaN, particularly in high-power applications such as automotive and data centers. According to TrendForce’s estimates, the global GaN power component market is projected to grow from $180 million in 2022 to $1.33 billion by 2026, with a remarkable compound annual growth rate of 65%. With proactive efforts from industry leaders like Infineon and GaN Systems, power applications are poised to become the primary growth engine in the GaN domain, accelerating the overall expansion of the GaN market size.

SK hynix has introduced LPDDR5T (Low Power Double Data Rate 5 Turbo), a mobile DRAM with a remarkable 9.6Gbps speed. What sets this apart is its compatibility with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform.

LPDDR5T features a 16GB-capacity version, delivering data processing speeds of 77GB per second while maintaining low power consumption. Its efficiency and speed are achieved through the incorporation of HKMG (High-K Metal Gate) technology, which reduces power usage and increases processing speed.

“Generative AI applications running on our new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 enables exciting new use cases by executing LLMs and LVMs on device with minimal latency and at the lowest power,” said Ziad Asghar, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Our collaboration with SK hynix pairs the fastest mobile memory with our latest Snapdragon mobile platform and delivers amazing on-device, ultra-personalized AI experiences such as AI virtual assistants for smartphone users.”

“We are thrilled that we have met our customers’ needs for the ultra-high performance mobile DRAM with the provision of the LPDDR5T,” said Sungsoo Ryu, Head of DRAM Product Planning at SK hynix.

This collaboration between SK hynix and Qualcomm signals a new era for smartphones, aims to provide on-device, ultra-personalized AI experiences. As smartphones continue to evolve with enhanced DRAM for mobile, the partnership is set to strengthen and drive innovation in this space, positioning the devices as key vehicles for AI applications in the coming years.

(Image: SK hynix)

At Global Tech World Event on October 24th, Lenovo Group’s Chairman and CEO, Yuanqing Yang, has presented AI-powered PCs and enterprise-level “AI Twins”(AI assistant) to a global audience, heralding a new dawn for personal computers. He revealed that AI PCs are slated to hit the market no sooner than September of the following year.

Yang said that the journey of AI PCs involves a maturation process. Historically, they start with a 10% market share but are destined to become the norm, envisioning a future where every computer is an AI PC.

Regarding foundation models, Yang pointed out that some companies are hastily jumping on the bandwagon. However, he emphasized Lenovo’s commitment to not rush into trends and noted the drawbacks and vulnerabilities in China’s existing public foundation models, including concerns about personal privacy and data security. Lenovo’s focus is on establishing hybrid foundation models.

Given the need to compress models for device deployment, Lenovo is currently concentrating on research related to domain-adaptive model fine-tuning, lightweight model compression, and privacy protection techniques.

Moreover, Yang highlighted Lenovo’s prior announcement of a US$1 billion investment in the AI Innovation over the next three years. However, he clarified that this amount falls short of the financial demands since virtually all of Lenovo’s business domains involve AI and fundamental services, requiring substantial financial backing.

Lenovo’s Q1 earnings report from mid-August had unveiled the company’s plan to allocate an additional $1 billion over the next three years for expediting AI technology and applications. This encompasses the development of AI devices, AI infrastructure, and the integration of generative AI technologies like AIGC into industry vertical solutions.

Besides, chip manufacturers like Intel is joining forces to expedite the development of the AI PC ecosystem. Their objective is to realize AI applications on over 100 million personal computers by 2025. This endeavor has piqued the interest of well-known international brands like Acer, Asus, HP, and Dell, all of which have a positive outlook on the potential of AI-powered PCs. It is anticipated that AI PCs will be a pivotal factor in revitalizing the PC industry’s annual growth by 2024.

Currently, there are no brands selling AI PCs in the true sense, but leading manufacturers have already revealed their plans for related products. The industry anticipates a substantial release of AI PCs in 2024.

(Image: Lenovo)

DRAM Spot Market

The price trend in the spot market has diverged slightly compared with the price trend in the contract price. Spot prices of DRAM chips and modules rose successively over the previous several weeks. However, the upward momentum has lost steam in recent days due to a lack of channel demand. In the case of module house Kingston, it currently holds a high level of DRAM inventory, so its pricing strategy is more conservative compared with other module houses. Also, since Kingston is the leading module house, spot prices of modules on the whole are constrained from climbing further. For now, buyers and sellers in the spot market are taking a wait-and-see approach. The trajectory of spot prices is expected to become clearer following the finalization of prices for 4Q23 contracts. The average spot price of mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) rose by 0.71% from US$1.560 last week to US$1.571 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market

Spot transactions have slightly shrunken recently under insufficient stocks on account of the drastically diminished level of wafer provision from suppliers. On the other hand, buyers who are suppressed in their sentiment of following up with prices, due to the accumulated increment that is already quite significant within the short term, have been relatively restricted in the increase of concluded prices, despite maintaining an upward trend. 512Gb TLC wafer spots have climbed 5.85% this week, arriving at US$2.044.