UK CPI fell within the target range in September, according to data released by the UK Office for National Statistics on October 16. The CPI increased by 1.7% year-over-year in September, down from 2.2% in the previous month and below the market expectation of 1.9%, marking the lowest level since April 2021.

Core CPI, which excludes energy, food, and tobacco, rose by 3.2% year-over-year, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points from the previous month.

The main factor behind the CPI decline was the transportation sector, where prices dropped by 2.2% year-over-year, a 3.5 percentage point reduction from the previous month, contributing -0.3 percentage points to overall CPI growth. This was primarily due to lower airfares and a decline in crude oil prices.

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Moreover, The Bank of England’s closely watched services prices rose by 4.9% year-over-year, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous month, reflecting the continued easing of wage pressures. The latest data shows that regular pay growth in August was 4.9% year-over-year, a decline of 0.2 percentage points from the previous period, marking the lowest level since June 2022.

Earlier, in its August Monetary Policy Report, the Bank of England predicted that as wage pressures ease, services inflation would gradually decline to around 5.3% in 2024.

According to Reuters report, the latest CPI data has further fueled market expectations for a rate cut by the Bank of England. The probability of a two-rate cut by the end of the year has risen from 80% to 90%, and the British pound fell by approximately 0.8 cents against the U.S. dollar on October 16.

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Intel, having given a heads-up that it plans to let go 15,000 employees by year-end, has reportedly fired the first shot. According to Tom’s Hardware, the struggling giant has started issuing formal layoff notices to 1,300 employees at its Gordon Moore Park facility in Oregon.

The report notes that those who received the message would stay until next month before their positions are terminated.

Local media The Oregonian points out that the move affects about one in every 18 Intel employees in Oregon, where the company is the largest private employer. To be more specific, the layoffs will impact more than 5% of Intel’s workforce in Oregon, marking one of the largest mass layoffs in the state’s history.

It is worth noting that these figures don’t account for employees who accepted voluntary severance, buyouts, or early retirement packages, according to Tom’s Hardware. With Intel’s Oregon workforce standing at around 22,000, a 15% reduction would bring the total down to fewer than 20,000, the report says.

And more bad news may be around the corner. The report by Tom’s Hardware also indicates that the 1,300 layoffs represent less than half of Intel’s overall reduction target. Therefore, if Intel applies these cuts evenly across its workforce, the total number of employees leaving, whether voluntary or involuntary, could exceed 3,000.

Moreover, Intel’s Sales and Marketing Group (SMG) may be another hardest-hitting sector, as it is reportedly facing a 35% reduction in costs, according to Tom’s Hardware.

After its August earnings call, at which Intel reported a net loss of USD 1.6 billion for Q2, 2024, the company has been grappling to get out of the rut by a series of initiatives, including plans to cut approximately 15% of its workforce and suspend dividend payments starting in Q4, which are parts of Intel’s broader effort to implement a USD 10 billion cost reduction program.

In addition to the aforementioned efforts, Intel also tries to secure more external funding. The company is expected to receive an USD 8.5 billion direct funding grant from Washington’s CHIPS Act by the end of the year. Moreover, Intel confirmed a separate USD 3 billion award for its Secure Enclave project, which will enable the company to supply its advanced 18A chips, according to its press release.

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• [News] Intel Employees Prepare for Layoff Notices as Cuts Enter Peak Phase This Week

(Photo credit: Intel)

Any suggestions for Samsung to get out of the rut? The remedy for its slow transformation may be hidden in the experience of Japanese peers. According to reports by Nikkei and Korea media outlet edaily, Samsung has begun researching Japanese companies, led by its Future Business Planning Division.

Citing Nikkei’s report on October 16^th, edaily notes that Samsung’s Future Business Planning Division, which is directly under the charge of Chairman Jay Y. Lee himself, plans to analyze the operations of 110 Japanese companies to study the decline and revival of the Japanese electronics industry. The main objective of the initiative is to identify and nurture business opportunities for Samsung, the reports suggest.

Notably, the research is said to include major tech firms such as Sony Group, which has gradually shifted its focus from hardware to content-oriented businesses like gaming, music, and film, edaily notes. Hitachi, a paradigm of downsizing its original business empire to focus on key growth areas instead, is rumored to be another research subject.

The reports indicate that Samsung’s Future Business Planning Division is gathering not only top employees from various divisions of the group but also individuals with business experience from outside, as it tries to “seek answers from the past for the future.”

Interestingly though, Samsung seems to be in the same shoes as its Japanese rivals a few years ago. Nikkei states that the South Korean tech giant surpassed Japanese companies in the semiconductor and television sectors, but now has found itself in a defensive position when being gradually caught up by Chinese companies, much like the situation Japanese firms used to get stuck in.

Samsung reported its third-quarter earnings last week. The company’s operating profit was initially expected to exceed 10 trillion won, but the actual performance fell short of that target. In terms of chip making business, it is lagging behind foundry giant TSMC due to unstable 3nm yield rates. Regarding memory business, SK hynix is claiming the throne of HBM amid AI boom.

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• [News] Lagging behind SK hynix in HBM, Samsung Plans Significant Year-end Cuts to Chip Executives
• [News] Samsung Foundry Faces Yield Struggles and Client Losses, External Push for Spinoff and U.S. Listing

(Photo credit: Samsung)

The AI wave continues to fuel surging demand for AI chips. Following reports of HBM sellouts and manufacturers ramping up production to meet demand, recent news reveals that Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture GPUs are also in short supply.

Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs Sold Out for the Next 12 Months

Although Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture GPUs are delayed until Q4 of this year, it hasn’t dampened orders.

According to Tom’s Hardware, Morgan Stanley recently held a three-day meeting in New York with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, CFO Colette Kress, and other members of the chipmaker’s management team.

Morgan Stanley reported that Nvidia stated that orders for Blackwell architecture GPUs are sold out for the next 12 months, and new customers placing orders now won’t receive products until the end of 2025.

Existing customers, including AWS, CoreWeave, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle, have already purchased all of the Blackwell architecture GPUs that Nvidia and its partner TSMC can produce in the coming quarters.

The industry points out that the demand for high-performance GPUs and the AI chip market behind them remains frenetic, and the competition between major AI chip manufacturers such as Nvidia, AMD, and Intel will become increasingly fierce.

Three Memory Giants Seize HBM3e Opportunities, Highlighting the Importance of 12hi Products

Driven by the continuous iteration of high-performance AI chips and the expansion of HBM capacity per system, the demand for HBM bits continues to grow.

At the same time, with the iteration of mainstream GPU products from Nvidia and AMD, as well as changes in HBM specifications, the market will gradually upgrade from HBM3 to HBM3e. The three major memory manufacturers will actively seize HBM3e opportunities.

According to TrendForce, the annual growth rate of HBM demand bits will be close to 200% in 2024 and will double again in 2025.

TrendForce estimates that driven by the active adoption of new-generation HBM products by AI platforms, more than 80% of HBM demand bits will be for HBM3e generation products in 2025, of which 12-hi will account for more than half, becoming the mainstream product that major AI manufacturers will compete for in the second half of next year, followed by 8-hi.

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have submitted their first batches of HBM3e 12-hi samples in the first half of 2024 and the third quarter, respectively, and are currently in the continuous verification stage. Among them, SK Hynix and Micron are progressing faster and are expected to complete verification by the end of this year.

(Photo credit:  Nvidia)

According to a report from Reuters, Samsung Electronics announced on Tuesday that workers at their Indian unit have chosen to end their strike at the factory in Tamil Nadu, southern India, ending a labor protest that lasted over a month.

The report noted that over 1,000 Samsung India workers have been protesting near the factory close to Chennai in Tamil Nadu since September 9, calling for higher wages and official recognition of their union.

Reuters pointed out that the strike at the plant was supported by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and was the largest labor dispute in recent years in the country. This situation raises concerns about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to attract investors for local manufacturing.

According to Reuters, Samsung India stated that it appreciated CITU’s decision to call off the strike at the plant. However, the company did not disclose the terms of the settlement.

The report indicated that it was confirmed by the Tamil Nadu state government that the strike has ended. The state government confirmed that representatives from Samsung and the striking workers had taken part in the discussions.

As stated by Reuters, the plant employs approximately 1,800 workers and manufactures refrigerators, TVs, and washing machines. It is one of Samsung’s two factories in India and plays a crucial role in the company’s ambitions, contributing about one-fifth of its USD 12 billion in sales in India for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Previously, Samsung Electronics also encountered a labor strike in Korea. After a three-day strike beginning on July 8, the labor union announced plans for an indefinite strike due to the lack of consensus with Samsung. However, according to The Chosun Daily, the union called off the strike in August, while the future of negotiations between Samsung and the labor union remains uncertain.

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• [News] Samsung’s Labor Union Intends to Launch Indefinite Strike

(Photo credit: Samsung)