The Hot Take: Samsung playing catch up and hopefully over take TSMC? Only time will tell.
Korean chip manufacturing giant Samsung is developing simulation technologies for lithography that rely on quantum computing and artificial intelligence, suggests a report from the Korean press. The technology will be used to run simulations of the first stage of the chip manufacturing process, and Samsung will also rely on artificial intelligence to streamline the process. Through the technology, the firm aims to reduce the time and cost of the lithography and etching processes. Samsung Is Developing Algorithms To Boost Its Photolithography, Say Sources In the semiconductor manufacturing process, lithography is the first and most important step. It involves high-end machines, [âŚ]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/samsung-chases-tsmc-with-quantum-powered-chipmaking-as-ai-reshapes-the-most-critical-step-in-fabrication/
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The Hot Take: We'll see how long before they go to Intel because TSMC is filled up in Arizona FABs.
Nvidia will stay TSMCâs biggest customer in 2027, but AMDâs EPYC Venice could pinch the CPU bragging rights.
TSMC is seeing rising demand for 2.5D advanced packaging as CPUs become more important in the agentic AI bunfight. Apparently, GPUs alone are no longer enough to feed the machine.
Morgan Stanley reckons Nvidia will remain TSMCâs largest CoWoS customer in 2027. TSMC is expected to reach wafer capacity of 200,000 wafers a month that year.
Nvidia is using TSMCâs CoWoS packaging for two main product families. CoWoS-L is for AI GPUs such as Blackwell and Rubin, while CoWoS-R is for Vera CPUs.
CoWoS-L capacity is expected to hit about 910,000 units, up 40 per cent year on year. Vera shipments are expected to double, which would help Nvidia lift data centre revenue by 52 per cent.
Morgan Stanley said:âNvidia uses TSMCâs CoWoS-L as the single source for all its AI GPU products (e.g. Blackwell and Rubin). Its 2027 CoWoS-L consumption could reach ~910k, up ~40 per cent year on year. Strong CoWoS-R bookings by Nvidia suggest room for AI GPM products (such as doubling). Taken together, we estimate Nvidiaâs 2027 forecast for Nvidiaâs data centre revenue to rise 52 per cent year on year.â
Nvidia has been pivoting harder into CPUs to claw back China revenue after GPU restrictions. Several customers have shown interest in Vera CPUs.
The company has hand-delivered the first Vera CPUs to Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX and Oracle. Nothing says âagentic AI eraâ like an expensive chip being passed around the usual suspects.
The problem for Nvidia is that AMD is not politely standing at the back. Its next-generation EPYC Venice platform is already in volume production at TSMC.
Venice is based on AMDâs upcoming Zen 6 architecture and is expected to deliver better performance and efficiency. It targets both AI and HPC, while Vera is being pitched squarely at agentic AI.
Morgan Stanley projects Nvidiaâs Vera CPUs could reach 5.75 million units by 2027. AMDâs EPYC Venice, though, could reach 6.75 million units in 2027. That is 17 per cent more than Vera and 5.4 times its expected 2026 volume.
âBased on our CoWoS consumption forecasts, Nvidiaâs 5nm Vera CPU could grow to 5.75mn units in 2027, while AMDâs 2nm Venice CPU may reach 6.75mn units in 2027 vs. ~1.25mn in 2026,â the beancounters said.
AMD has another advantage on paper, with Venice using TSMCâs advanced 2-nanometre process. Vera is based on a 3-nanometre process. The real headache for both companies may not be each other. It is custom silicon, where the cloud crowd is deciding that buying chips off the shelf is for the riffraff.
OpenAI, Google, Amazon and others are either talking up custom chips or already building them. That turns the AI supply chain into a fight between outside suppliers and in-house silicon vanity projects.
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The Hot Take: Nice to see they can break that barrier.
IBM says it has created the world's first known chip tech below 1 nanometre - but it will be some time before it's ready for production.
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The Hot Take: More manufacturing states side is good.
Samsung Electronics' foundry plant in Taylor, Texas, is showing signs of moving into equipment-level execution. Key engineers from ASML Korea, the Dutch lithography equipment giant's South Korean unit, have been dispatched to the Taylor facility and are expected to remain on site for roughly six to eight weeks, according to Korean industry publication DealSite.
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The Hot Take: They're the only manufacturer in an industry they monopolize. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding...
U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick expresses concerns in a conversation with ASML executives that China has an EUV lithography system as ASML denies shipping such scanners to the PRC.
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The Hot Take: Domestic manufacturing is key.
Samsung's multi-billion dollar advanced chipmaking factory located in Taylor, Texas, is ready to start mass production of chips for clients.
The company has confirmed that everything is ready and that mass production of advanced chips for customers will begin next year.
2nm process advancement is underway as well
Margaret Han, Vice President of Samsung's foundry division in the US, said during the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem Forum held at the company's US headquarters yesterday that âWe are ready.â She added that âCustomers will begin production at the Taylor fab starting next year.â
Samsung began construction on this factory back in 2022. Its total investment in the project is expected to exceed $17 billion. The company had previously said during the first quarter earnings call this year that the fab was âunder construction.â It was stated that the goal was to begin operation within the year.
Tesla is among the customers who will have their chips produced at this factory. The carmaker already has a $16.5 billion deal with Samsung for the production of its AI5 and AI6 self-driving chips. Samsung will produce 2nm chips at the facility.
To further improve its technological edge at the US factory, Samsung will start building out the second-generation enhancement of its 2nm process in the near future. This process advancement has been tuned finely for AI workloads, potentially delivering a performance improvement of up to 30%.
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The Hot Take: We'll see where glass takes us, it's an interesting change for sure.
Intel Foundry is leading the race towards Glass Substrates with its Rio Rancho facility, aiming to become the world's first to initiate mass production. Glass Substrates Are The Future of Semiconductors & Intel Foundry is Well on Its Way To Become The First To Initiate Mass Production Glass Core substrates have been gaining interest, as they have several benefits over traditional organic substrate solutions. The current substrates are also facing shortages due to the AI supercycle, leading one of the biggest substrate suppliers, Ajinomoto, to raise prices. These supply constraints are pushing the industry to look into new advanced packaging solutions, and [âŚ]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intel-foundry-rio-rancho-facility-crown-jewel-in-production-of-glass-substrates/
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The Hot Take: Will only complicate shortages once this hits.
The seemingly never-ending bonus-related saga at Samsung is now spurring a chain reaction across Asia's industrial heartland, with some TSMC employees now actively advocating for the tactics employed by Samsung's unions in recent days to counter the management's penny-pinching ways. TSMC Employees are increasingly coalescing around the idea of threatening Samsung-style strikes to defend their wage-related perks A lot of TSMC employees appear to be venting their rage in recent days on select Facebook pages, honing in on persistent rumors that TSMC might cut employee bonuses. Of course, TSMC has a special place within Taiwan's discourse, with the company often [âŚ]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/tsmc-employees-are-exploding-with-rage-over-rumored-bonus-cuts-despite-a-58-profit-jump-and-are-coalescing-around-samsung-style-strikes/
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The Hot Take: We are going to need all the fabs we can get here.
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said on Wednesday that he has spoken directly with Elon Musk about the TeraFab semiconductor project.
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The Hot Take: I feel this is FAR off, probably past PCIe 8.0 that just got written out.
Nvidia invests $300 million in Corning to help partners that deploy its hardware in the U.S. to get enough of optical fiber, grant Nvidia control over a significant chunk of domestic fiber production.
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