Chip Industry Week In Review


By Susan Rambo, Gregory Haley, Jesse Allen, and Liz Allan President Biden issued an executive order on the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” It says entities need to report large-scale computing clusters and the total computing power available, including “any model that was trained using a quantity of computing power greater than 1,026 inte... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Susan Rambo, Gregory Haley, and Liz Allan SRC unfurled its Microelectronics and Advanced Packaging (MAPT) industry-wide 3D semiconductor roadmap, addressing such topics as advanced packaging, heterogeneous integration, analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, energy efficiency, security, the related foundational ecosystem, and more. The guidance is the collective effort of 300 individuals ... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Liz Allan, Jesse Allen, and Karen Heyman. Canon uncorked a nanoimprint lithography system, which the company said will be useful down to about the 5nm node. Unlike traditional lithography equipment, which projects a pattern onto a resist, nanoimprint directly transfers images onto substrates using a master stamp patterned by an e-beam system. The technology has a number of limitations and... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Liz Allan, and Gregory Haley A potential government shutdown beginning in November would be "massively disruptive" for the Commerce Department as it continues to disburse critical funding featured in the CHIPS Act to boost semiconductor research and development in the U.S., according to Secretary Gina Raimondo. Global semiconductor industry sales totaled $44 billion in Aug... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Gregory Haley, Jesse Allen, and Liz Allan TSMC told equipment vendors to delay deliveries of the most advanced tools due to uncertain demand, according to Reuters. The news drove down stock prices of all the major equipment providers. On the other hand, TSMC said advanced packaging shortages will constrain AI chip shipments for the next 18 months, according to NikkeiAsia. The United St... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Liz Allan, Jesse Allen, and Karen Heyman Global semiconductor equipment billings dipped 2% year-over-year to US$25.8 billion in Q2, and slipped 4% compared with Q1, according to SEMI. Similarly, the top 10 semiconductor foundries reported a 1.1% quarterly-over-quarter revenue decline in Q2. A rebound is anticipated in Q3, according to TrendForce. Synopsys extended its AI-driven EDA ... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


Intel dropped out of a $5.4 billion deal to purchase Tower Semiconductor in Israel. Intel cited the inability to obtain regulatory approval in a timely manner as the reason for ending the deal signed in February. Intel will pay a $353 million termination fee to Tower. The silicon wafer supply has moved back into positive territory for 2023 thanks to a 7% decline in wafer shipments combined w... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


TSMC, Bosch, Infineon, and NXP will jointly invest in the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (ESMC), in Dresden, Germany, to provide advanced semiconductor manufacturing services. ESMC marks a significant step toward construction of a 300mm fab, which is expected to have a monthly production capacity of 40,000 300mm (12-inch) wafers on TSMC’s 28/22nm planar CMOS and 16/12nm finFET proce... » read more

Week In Review: Semiconductor Manufacturing, Test


China’s restrictions on the export gallium and germanium took effect this week. Any Chinese company exporting gallium or germanium that could be used in military and civil applications (dual-use) must obtain a license from China’s Ministry of Commerce. China produces 60% of the worldwide supply of germanium and 80% of the world’s gallium, both of which have to be processed from other mate... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


The Chinese government is considering easing proposed rules that require foreign office equipment makers operating in the country to transfer key product technology to China, per Nikkei Asia. In April 2022, Chinese authorities began revamping their national standards to include a new requirement that key components, such as semiconductors and laser-related items, be designed, developed, and pro... » read more

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