Earlier in August, Foxconn announced the plan to expand its overseas investments, with the total amounting to roughly USD 840 million. Now the expansion plan seems to be more materialized, as the Taiwanese tech giant is reportedly evaluating an investment of around USD 1 billion to set up a smartphone display module assembly unit in Tamil Nadu, India, according to a report by The Economic Times, cited by Taiwanese media the Economic Daily News.

The blueprint, if it comes to fruition, would mark Foxconn’s first panel module assembly plant in India, which targets to supply Apple for its iPhone production, The Economic Times notes. Sources cited by the report note that Foxconn aims to have the facility “up and running as soon as possible,” though there has yet to be any specific timeline.

India has emerged as a crucial destination for tech giants seeking to diversify their supply chains away from China amid rising geopolitical tensions with the West. A previous report by BBC reveals that Google is set to manufacture Pixel smartphones at an existing Foxconn facility in India, which is also located in Tamil Nadu.

The new panel assembly business, therefore, is seen as a strategic move to streamline related processes for Foxconn.

In terms of the scale of the assembly unit, The Economic Times suggests that Foxconn has secured approximately 500,000 square feet at the ESR Oragadam Industrial & Logistics Park, adjacent to its smartphone assembly facility near Chennai in southern India.

It is worth noting that according to The Economic Times, Foxconn’s facility is expected to allow other contract manufacturers, such as Pegatron or Tata Electronics, to use the components locally produced, instead of importing pre-assembled modules from China.

Foxconn did not respond to The Economic Times’ request for comment on the 24^th.

An industry consultant cited by the report noted that having a manufacturer assemble panel modules in India matters a lot for the country, as India currently relies heavily on imports for its panel demand, which would further increase the total cost and supply chain complexity.

According to the report, around 60% to 65% of panel module imports come from China, followed by South Korea, which accounts for 20% to 25% of the imports.

In India, the largest smartphone panel module assemblers are TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology and India’s TXD. CSOT has been assembling panel modules for Samsung and Xiaomi, while TXD supplies Vivo and Oppo, the report says.

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• [News] Apple Reportedly Doubles iPhone Production in India, while Foxconn Holds 67% Share
• [News] Foxconn Expands Investment in the U.S., Mexico, India, and Europe, Approaching USD 840 Million

(Photo credit: Foxconn)

In early September, rumors have it that TSMC’s first US fab in Arizona began producing engineering wafers using the 4nm process in April, with yields reportedly comparable to those manufactured in its Southern Taiwan Science Park facility. Now here’s the latest update: the fab has started trial production for Apple’s A16 chip, according to a report by Tim Culpan at substack, a technology columnist.

Tim Culpan notes that the mobile processors are manufactured with TSMC’s 5nm, or the so-called N4P node, which is the same as the node used in Taiwan to manufacture A16. The N4P node is actually a member of the 5nm family, as it is regarded as an enhanced version of 5nm, the report explains.

It is worth noting that Apple’s A16 SoC, though launched two years ago with iPhone 14 Pro, is considered as one of the most advanced mobile chips for the company, as the chip is also be seen in iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models. Culpan indicates that the move marks a milestone that instead of beginning with some less critical chips, Apple and TSMC intend to aim high from the start.

According to Culpan, Apple’s A16 is currently being trial-produced at TSMC Arizona’s “Fab 21” Phase 1 facility, with a small production volume. However, once the second stage of the Phase 1 fab is completed, the output will significantly increase.

TSMC plans to build three plants in Arizona, each with cleanroom spaces twice the size of typical logic fabs in the industry. The first fab is expected to begin mass production in the first half of 2025.

TSMC’s second fab in Arizona will use 2nm process technology to meet strong AI-related demand, with production expected to begin in 2028. The third fab will employ 2nm or even more advanced process.

However, the situation for Samsung’s investment in the U.S. would be a different story. A previous report from Korean media outlet Business Korea noted that persistent issues with its 2nm yield rate have led Samsung to decide to withdraw personnel from its Taylor, Texas plant, signaling another setback for its advanced wafer foundry business.

As for Intel, which proactively pursues the support of the U.S. government, it is holding steadfast on its investments in the country despite recent announcements to spin-off its foundry business and delaying the projects in Germany and Poland for two years.

Intel plans to invest USD 100 billion over the next five years in new fabs and expansions across Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon, creating 10,000 manufacturing jobs and 20,000 construction jobs.

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• [News] Showing Positive Progress, TSMC’s Arizona Fab Reportedly Reaches Production Yields on Par with Taiwan
• [News] TSMC Receives USD 6.6 Billion for Chipmaking from the US Government, Commits to Constructing Third Fab

(Photo credit: Apple)

One of the most critical moves of Intel’s next step, regarded by CEO Pat Gelsinger as “the most significant transformation in over four decades,” is turning its foundry business into an independent subsidiary. Citing remarks from foreign media and analysts, a report by Taiwanese media outlet Anue notes that this is a much-needed temporary measure aimed at gaining the trust of potential customers, who may hesitate to entrust their chip designs to a competitor’s foundry division.

Following last week’s board meeting, Intel announced on September 16^th that the company will transform its foundry business into a wholly-owned subsidiary with its own board of directors.

It is worth noting that in the meantime, Intel signed a multi-billion-dollar, multi-year agreement with Amazon to produce certain chips for Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) AI data centers.

The Two tech giants will co-develop AWS’ next-gen AI fabric chips on Intel 18A, which signals a good start for Intel. Additionally, Intel is developing customized Xeon 6 server chips for AWS.

Regarding Intel’s plan on carving out its foundry business, citing comments from foreign analysts, the report by Anue states that the move could help Intel in having a better chance of attracting tech heavyweights, such as Apple, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and even AMD.

Here is why: if the new company appears as an independent entity and if it has the right board members, the foundry business could progress more smoothly, the report suggests. This move should help alleviate concerns from potential customers, but its effectiveness will yet be proven through execution.

The report added that if Intel’s collaboration with Amazon goes well, it could potentially manufacture other Amazon chips in the future, such as AWS Graviton processors and Trainium AI training chips used for machine learning.

Intel has failed to attract a significant number of clients for its foundry business, with Microsoft being its largest customer to date, the report notes.

Two years ago, the struggling giant lost the contract to design and manufacture chips for Sony’s next-generation PlayStation 6, dealing a major blow to its efforts to establish its nascent foundry business.

In its own words, the move in terms of the new subsidiary structure will provide greater separation and independence for Intel’s external foundry customers and suppliers from Intel’s other divisions. Importantly, it also gives the company the flexibility to evaluate independent funding sources in the future and optimize the capital structure of each business to maximize growth and create shareholder value.

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• [News] Intel Reportedly Sought Commerce Secretary Raimondo’s Help over U.S. Reliance on TSMC
• [News] Intel to Turn Foundry Unit into Subsidiary, with Projects in Germany and Poland Delayed for 2 Years

(Photo credit: Intel)

On September 10, two major smartphone manufacturers, Apple and Huawei, held new product launch events simultaneously. Apple’s iPhone 16 is powered by the A18 series Bionic chip, which is said to make it the first truly native AI smartphone.

Meanwhile, Huawei’s Mate XT, the world’s first triple-foldable phone, redefines the future standard for foldable devices.

• iPhone 16 Hit the Market, Backed by a Powerful Chip

On September 9, Apple held its product launch event, introducing the iPhone 16 series, including the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. All models in the new series are equipped with the new 3nm A18 series processor, with the standard iPhone 16 featuring A18 chip, and the flagship iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max powered by A18 Pro chip.

Compared to A16 Bionic chip used in the iPhone 15, iPhone 16’s processor makes a leap forward by two generations, offering a gaming experience on par with console-level performance.

The A18 and A18 Pro chips in the iPhone 16 series use the world’s first second-generation 3nm process and the latest Armv9 instruction set architecture. They have a built-in 16-core neural engine, with smaller transistors that increase speed and efficiency.

The memory subsystem has been uniformly upgraded, increasing total system memory bandwidth by 17%.

The A18 chip in the standard iPhone 16 features a 6-core CPU (2 performance cores + 4 efficiency cores), which is 30% faster than the A16 Bionic in the iPhone 15 and 60% faster than the A14 chip in the iPhone 12.

Its GPU is more efficient, consuming 35% less power for the same performance. A18 chip adopts Apple’s latest desktop-class GPU architecture, with a 5-core GPU that supports key functions like Apple Intelligence, photography, and graphically intensive games. It’s 40% faster than the A16’s GPU and twice as fast as the A14’s GPU.

The A18 Pro chip, debuting in the iPhone 16 Pro series, delivers up to 15% faster performance and 20% less power consumption compared to the A17 Pro when running the same workloads.

Additionally, Apple Intelligence’s running speed improves by 15%. Fitted with brand new 6-core GPU, A18 Pro optimizes graphics performance, features a GPU speed of up to 20% at the fastest and supports hardware ray tracing.

A18 Pro also supports faster USB 3 and ProRes video recording, along with a new video encoder and image signal processor, which double data throughput, boosting encoding speed and video processing efficiency.

Apple emphasized that the iPhone 16 series will introduce new generative AI features centered around Apple Intelligence for the first time. Apple Intelligence is set to launch in beta this fall as part of the iOS 18 update on all iPhone 16 models, as well as the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, with Siri and the device language initially set to U.S. English. Some functions and additional languages will be rolled out next year.

TrendForce previously noted that Apple Intelligence is a major highlight of the iPhone 16 series this year. While the LLM parameters on Apple’s devices are not as extensive as those on Android phones, Apple is expected to achieve superior system integration thanks to its closed ecosystem, self-developed processors, and strong control over app development.

The company is also focusing on improving Siri’s accuracy and has partnered with ChatGPT to boost AI performance. TrendForce points out that Apple Intelligence will gradually roll out more features and support for additional languages.

However, its functionality in China remains unclear, and the lack of significant AI-centric applications could potentially impact sales of the iPhone 16 series this year. 

From a production perspective, TrendForce’s research on September 6 pointed out that the excitement around Apple Intelligence has been building since WWDC24, and with a relatively low base in 2023, Apple’s four new models are expected to have a combined production volume of 86.7 million units in the second half of 2024, marking an 8% year-on-year increase.

Looking at total production for 2024, Apple is currently close to Samsung, the market leader, and could potentially surpass Samsung by the end of the year to become the top smartphone manufacturer by market share for the first time.

• Huawei’s World-First Triple-Fold Design Sets a New Standard

At the Huawei Extraordinary Brand Event and HarmonyOS Product Launch, Huawei officially unveiled the world’s first mass-produced triple-fold smartphone, the Mate XT. Prior to Huawei, companies like Samsung, TCL, and even Africa’s smartphone leader Transsion had already showcased triple-fold “concept phones.”

According to official reports, Huawei Mate XT measures 156.7mm in length. When unfolded, its width is 73.5mm in single-screen mode, 143mm in dual-screen mode, and 219mm in triple-screen mode.

When folded, the device is just 12.8mm thick and weighs approximately 298g. Mate XT boasts the world’s largest foldable screen at 10.2 inches, with a high resolution of 2200 x 2480. With a thickness of just 3.6mm, the Mate XT offers a user experience rivaling that of a small tablet, while still being compact enough to fit in a pocket when folded.

TrendForce reports that shipments of foldable phones are expected to reach 17.8 million units in 2024, making up only 1.5% of the smartphone market. Despite high repair rates and costs, market penetration is projected to climb to 4.8% by 2028.  

Samsung, which held a dominant 60% market share in foldable phones between 2023 and 2024, is facing more intensive competition from multiple smartphone brands, pushing its market share down to 50%, and Huawei has become its fiercest competitor.

The launch of Huawei’s 4G foldable Pocket S in 2023 performed exceptionally well in the market, driving Huawei to break into double digits for the first time in foldable phone market share, reaching 12%.

In 2023, Huawei also introduced upgraded 5G foldable phones, including the Mate X5 and Pocket 2. With the recent release of the Mate XT, Huawei’s foldable phone market share is expected to approach 30% by the end of this year.

Read more

• [News] Huawei’s Tri-Fold Phone Revealed Hours after Apple, with Pre-Orders Reportedly Exceeding 4 Million
• [News] Fuelled by AI Features, Apple’s iPhone 16 Shipments Reportedly to Increase by 10%

(Photo credit: Apple)

According to sources cited by Indian media outlet Financial Express, Apple is said to be in talks with Micron, Tata Group, and other Indian chip manufacturers to procure USD 12 billion worth of chips locally for iPhones produced in India.

Reportedly, Apple plans to shift 26% of its iPhone production to India by 2026. Industry sources cited by the report further suggest that by then, Apple will become the largest single buyer of Indian-made semiconductors, surpassing any other sectors such as defense, aerospace, and automotive.

Sources further point out that if Micron and Tata are able to produce chips that meet Apple’s requirements, a significant portion of the chips needed for iPhones will come from these companies, potentially creating substantial opportunities for the Indian semiconductor industry.

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, Apple iPhones and almost all other consumer products were manufactured in China. Following the introduction of the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme by the Indian government, potentially prompting Apple to begin shifting its production lines.

In 2022, the Indian government launched a USD 10 billion PLI scheme to stimulate domestic semiconductor production. To date, India has approved five chip manufacturing projects with a total value of roughly USD 18 billion and has reserved USD 1.2 billion for future projects.

Meanwhile, Micron’s chip plant in Gujarat, India, is expected to begin operations this year, marking the company’s first chip facility in India.

Additionally, Tata Group, in collaboration with PSMC, plans to build a packaging plant in Gujarat, with operations slated to commence in 2026, producing chips using 28nm, 40nm, 55nm, 90nm, and 110nm nodes.

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• [News] 300mm Wafer Fab Construction Picks up Steam Worldwide
• [News] Reducing Reliance on China, Apple to Produce High-End iPhones in India for the First Time

(Photo credit: Tata Group)