Chinese tech giant Huawei has appointed a new Rotating CEO for the company. After Eric Xu ended his tenure on September 30^th, Sabrina Meng assumes the position of Rotating and Acting Chair of Huawei from October 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025, according to the company’s press release.

During her term, Meng will serve in the company’s top leadership position and head the Board of Directors and its Executive Committee, the press release states.

It is worth noting that Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, who is also the company’s director. According to a report by the Economic Daily News, Meng served as Huawei’s rotating chairperson for the first time on April 19, 2023, and this marks her second term in this role.

Economic Daily News notes that the rotating chairperson system is Huawei’s unique management model. According to the report, Huawei implemented the rotating COO (Chief Operating Officer) system in 2004, which later evolved into the rotating chairperson system in 2018.

Currently, Huawei has three rotating chairpersons: Eric Xu, Ken Hu and Sabrina Meng, with rotations occurring every six months, Economic Daily News notes.

Citing remarks from analysts, the report suggests that the rotating system allows the company’s leadership to examine its strategy and operations from different perspectives, which may help to avoid biases and rigidity in personal decision-making. However, some argue that the system may lead to ambiguity in accountability, as the six-month term may be too short to implement a strategy from beginning to end.

According to the information shown on Huawei’s website, Sabrina Meng joined Huawei in 1993 and has held positions including Director of the International Accounting Dept, CFO of Huawei Hong Kong, and President of the Accounting Mgmt Dept. She now serves as Deputy Chairwoman of the Board, and Rotating Chairwoman and CFO of Huawei.

Meng was arrested and detained in Canada in 2018, reportedly at the request of the U.S. for alleged bank fraud. After three years of detention, she returned to China in September, 2021, after reaching a deal with U.S. prosecutors to resolve the case, easing the tension between the two global superpowers, according to a report by Reuters.

Huawei has been making strides in the development of AI chips in recent years. To rival U.S. AI giant NVIDIA, the tech conglomerate is said to initiate sampling of its latest AI accelerator, Ascend 910C, to large Chinese server companies and internet firms. Ascend 910B, which the company claims to rival NVIDIA’s A100, has been popular among multiple industries across the country for AI model training.

Read more

• [News] Huawei Reportedly Begins Sampling of Ascend 910C to Rival NVIDIA
• [News] China Reportedly Advises Local Companies to Avoid NVIDIA’s H20, Benefiting Huawei and Cambricon

(Photo credit: Huawei)

Will the secret of the world’s top foundry finally be revealed? The second volume of the autobiography of Morris Chang, TSMC founder, is scheduled to be published on November 29^th, according to the reports by Taiwanese media outlets CNA and Liberty Times.

The second volume of the book, written in Chang’s own hand and is his only biography, is said to cover his career from 1964 to 2018, dating back to his life at Texas Instruments and all the way to his retirement from TSMC, CNA notes.

Giving the readers a heads up on its website, Commonwealth Publishing, the autobiography’s publisher, cites Chang’s quote on the saga – “When I founded a semiconductor company, there was only one path: to make it a world-class one.”

Chang is regarded as the “godfather” of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. Founding TSMC at the age of 55, Chang has led the foundry giant for more than three decades, building it into a multibillion-dollar enterprise. With its expertise at the advanced nodes, TSMC can boast to have the world’s most prestigious clientele, as it manufactures chips for tech heavyweights Intel, Samsung, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm.

The first volume of the autobiography was published in 1998, spanning nearly 100K words and covering Chang’s early days from 1931 to 1964, while the second volume is said to span around 200K words, according to Liberty Times.

Citing Chang’s previous remarks, Liberty Times notes that the second part of the autobiography would focus on the “TSMC miracle”, as well as a brief introduction of his time at U.S. electronics manufacturer General Instrument and ITRI, one of Taiwan’s major technology research institutes which pioneers Taiwan’s IC development.

According to the information compiled by Stanford University, born in China, Chang moved to Hong Kong and then to the U.S., where he attended Harvard and MIT. His employer, Texas Instruments, sent him to Stanford for his PhD in electrical engineering, which he earned in 1964.

By 1983, he had advanced to the position of group vice president overseeing TI’s global semiconductor operations before departing to take the helm at General Instrument Corp in 1984.

According to CNA, Chang resigned in 1985 and was invited to Taiwan to serve as President of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). In 1987, he founded TSMC. In 2005, Chang stepped down as CEO to focus on his role as Chairman, handing the position to Rick Tsai. However, in 2009, he returned as CEO while continuing as Chairman to lead TSMC in the new era.

In 2013, Morris Chang stepped down as TSMC CEO for the second time, handing over the leadership to Mark Liu and C.C. Wei. In 2018, he retired from TSMC, with Mark Liu becoming Chairman and C.C. Wei assuming the role of CEO.

Despite his retirement, TSMC’s performance has remained strong. In addition to the booming demand of 3nm and 5nm chips driven by AI, TSMC also accelerates its global expansion, including the U.S., Japan and Germany.

According to TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei’s projection in July, thanks to the strong demand from AI and smartphones for advanced nodes, 2024 will be a strong year for TSMC. The company expects this year’s revenue to increase by 24-26% (mid-20%), hitting a historical high.

(Photo credit: AIT)

China’s Manufacturing PMI remained in contraction in September, according to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on September 30.

China Manufacturing PMI was 49.8% in September, showing a slight improvement of 0.7% from the previous month but still below the 50-point mark, indicating a continued contraction in the manufacturing sector. Among the sub-indices, only the production index returned to expansion, while other key indicators remained in contraction, reflecting the ongoing weakness in China’s manufacturing industry.

In the non-manufacturing sector, the Business Activity Index slightly declined from 50.3 in the previous month to 50 in September, halting a two-month rise. By industry, the construction business activity index was stable at 50.7, while the services business activity index fell from 50.2 to 49.9, marking its first contraction this year. All major sub-indices declined in September, pointing to persistently weak consumer demand even after a brief summer stimulus.

Read more at Datatrack

Caixin PMI Also Shows a Slowdown…

Similarly, the Caixin PMI, which focuses more on small and medium-sized enterprises, showed a downturn in both manufacturing and services in September.

The Caixin Manufacturing PMI fell from 50.4 in August to 49.3. The production index remained in expansion but at a slower pace, while the new orders index dropped into contraction, reaching its lowest level since October 2022. The employment index remained in contraction, reflecting continued layoffs as a result of weak new orders. Although import prices decreased due to lower metal costs, weak demand further suppressed output prices.

In the services sector, the Caixin Services Business Activity Index declined from 51.6 in August to 50.3, staying barely in expansion but reaching its lowest point since October 2023. The new business index fell, only slightly above the contraction threshold, while stable external demand kept the export index in expansion. The employment index improved slightly into expansion, driven by new business, though the overall expansion remained weak. Input prices rose due to higher material and labor costs, but weak domestic demand and increased competition put downward pressure on selling prices.

Read more at Datatrack

Overall, continued weakness in domestic demand has led to declining new orders and business across both manufacturing and services, with manufacturing particularly affected. As business activity declines, companies are facing greater pressure to cut labor costs, further suppressing consumer spending. Rising material costs combined with falling product prices are also eroding business confidence in future prospects. Although the Chinese government has implemented substantial monetary easing measures and promised more support if needed, some economists believe that fiscal policies will also be necessary to address domestic demand shortfalls, as recent stimulus measures have had only short-term effects.

Samsung’s foundry business faces ongoing losses and strategic uncertainty. A report from Business Korea reveals that Samsung Securities, a subsidiary of the group, issued a report in July titled “Geopolitical Shifts and Industry,” recommending that Samsung spin off its foundry division and list it in the U.S.

In the second half of this year, Samsung ramped up production of its Gate-All-Around (GAA) 3nm second-generation process, but unstable yields have failed to attract clients.

According to TrendForce, TSMC held 62.3% of the global foundry market in Q2, while Samsung captured just 11.5%. Major tech players like Nvidia and Apple have partnered with TSMC, leaving Samsung struggling to secure similarly high-profile contracts.

Business Korea reports that Samsung will hold its Foundry Forum online on October 24, highlighting the challenges its foundry division is facing. Around mid-October, the company is also expected to announce its third-quarter results, with analysts cited by Business Korea predicting a 500 billion won ($385 million) loss in the non-memory segment, which includes the foundry and system LSI businesses.

Adding to the woes, the Exynos 2500 chip, produced with the GAA 3nm process, is yielding poorly, casting doubt on its inclusion in next year’s Galaxy S25. Delays in the 2nm process further complicate Samsung’s roadmap.

Rumors are circulating about a potential reallocation of foundry personnel to the memory division. Externally, there are calls for Samsung to spin off the foundry business. Samsung Securities advocates for strategic shifts, suggesting further U.S. expansion and the potential spinoff and U.S. listing of the foundry division.

In fact, the suggestion for Samsung to spin off its foundry business has been driven by Intel’s recent decisions. On September 16th, Intel announced that it would transform its foundry division into a wholly-owned subsidiary with its own board of directors.

Meanwhile, Intel also signed a multi-billion-dollar, multi-year deal with Amazon to manufacture chips for Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) AI data centers.

(Photo credit: Samsung)

Polysilicon

Transaction Overview: The recent round of deals has mostly been completed. After polysilicon manufacturers firmly maintained their prices, transaction volumes shrank. The ingot manufacturers, facing difficulties in passing costs downstream, are resistant to price hikes on the raw material side. While leading manufacturers generally agree on price increases for N-type silicon rods, weak demand raises uncertainty over whether these price hikes can be sustained.

Supply and Demand: In Q4, uncertainty in the polysilicon supply increases. Whether the current trend of reduced production will continue depends on whether polysilicon manufacturers maintain their scheduled maintenance and production cuts. If new capacity of leading manufacturers comes online on schedule, the downward trend in polysilicon supply may be reversed. On the demand side, challenges like inventory clearance and financial losses create significant obstacles for ingot manufacturers to increase their procurement. In the short term, the support for polysilicon appears pessimistic.

Price Trends: The price of polysilicon has stabilized after a period of rebound, with leading manufacturers setting N-type silicon rod prices around 41 CNY/kg. However, second- and third-tier manufacturers have weaker pricing power and are generally maintaining stable prices. Considering the current industrial silicon costs, leading manufacturers’ prices are now close to covering their cash costs, with profit margins on the verge of turning positive.

Wafers

Supply and Demand: The supply and demand for different wafer sizes may diverge in Q4. The capacity for 210R wafers is showing a clear upward trend, and procurement demand for this size is expected to increase accordingly. Coupled with inventory adjustments, the supply-demand relationship for 210R is improving. For 182mm wafers, however, the inventory remains a key obstacle to supply-demand balance, with the N-type M10 price hovering around 1.08-1.10 CNY/piece. Some second- and third-tier manufacturers, eager to recover their cash flow, have offered prices below 1.08 CNY/piece for more shipments.

Price Trends: Prices for all wafer types have remained stable this week. Looking ahead, wafer supply is expected to continue shrinking, and production cuts are anticipated to intensify during the National Day holiday. Therefore, the supply-demand balance for 210R wafers may be the first to stabilize.

Cells

Supply and Demand: Ahead of the holiday, demand from the module side may weaken, forcing solar cell manufacturers to lower their productions. For second- and third-tier solar cell manufacturers, shrinking orders and ongoing losses increase the risk of being phased out from the market. Demand for 210mm cells is growing, and its supply-demand is not yet surplus. Some cell manufacturers are accelerating production cuts and technical upgrades in hopes of capturing a premium from short-term supply-demand balance.

Price Trends: Some cell sizes saw price reductions this week. The N-type M10 price has been adjusted to a mainstream transaction range of 0.270 CNY/W, while the N-type G12R has remained stable at around 0.280 CNY/W.

Modules

Supply and Demand: As the holiday approaches, module manufacturers are expected to lower productions due to weak demand. Module manufacturers are cautious with their production plans to avoid inventory buildup. Recently, price competition has resurfaced, and with limited demand, module manufacturers have been cutting prices to secure more orders.

Price Trends: Module prices have been reduced across the board this week. Bifacial M10-TOPCon modules from leading manufacturers have been reduced to the 0.68-0.73 CNY/W range, while some smaller manufacturers, seeking to more shipments, have dropped prices to around 0.65 CNY/W. For bifacial G12-HJT modules, leading manufacturers’ prices are concentrated in the 0.75-0.83 CNY/W range, with a slight reduction in prices of BC products.