29 posts
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.
Read the full articleThe 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 “We are ready.” She added that “Customers will begin production at the Taylor fab starting next year.” 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 “under construction.” 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%.
Read the full articleThe 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 […]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intel-foundry-rio-rancho-facility-crown-jewel-in-production-of-glass-substrates/
Read the full articleThe 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.
Read the full articleThe Hot Take: USA domestic manufacturing is taking off, TSMC announcing huge expansions in Arizona. Intel getting that Federal injection is definitely keeping them alive and making them relevant again. Probably also why Nvidia dumped money into Intel too to make sure there is choice states side.
TSMC is turning into a victim of its own success as the world's preferred chip foundry, leaving its heretofore prized customers such as Apple in a bind of sorts as they suddenly find themselves crowded out by AI hyperscalers. In its frustration, Apple is now reportedly exploring the possibility of dividing up its silicon load between Samsung, Intel, and TSMC rather than remaining largely TSMC-exclusive. Apple is looking for contingencies by tentatively probing Intel and Samsung as additional vectors for manufacturing its custom chips According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has already held "early-stage talks" with Intel for using its […]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apple-quietly-courts-intel-and-samsung-for-its-most-critical-chips-as-tsmcs-advanced-nodes-remain-choked-under-ai-demand/
Read the full articleThe Hot Take: Better with less change seems to be a win!
Intel is preparing to present a refined version of its 18A process technology at the VLSI 2026 Symposium, introducing the 18A-P node as an optimized variant focused on improving power and performance characteristics without altering transistor density.
Read the full articleThe Hot Take: Intel winning all this business just means the domestic creation of products has accelerated to me. Only way they're going to get US Government Contracts or be able to sell in the US Borders. Prime example the router ban they just enacted.
Intel continues to see increased confidence for its upcoming Foundry technologies, such as 18A-P, 14A, and EMIB. Apple & Google Will Reportedly Leverage Intel Foundry 18A-P & EMIB Technologies, 14A Customers Also Lining Up. The Agentic AI and Inferencing boom has led to a significant surge in CPU demand. This has led major semiconductor companies such as TSMC to face severe supply constraints, all the while going on a large-scale expansion spree to meet demand. At the same time, Intel has been driving revenue up by selling off salvaged dies, but the company is also attracting the attention of various […]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intel-18a-p-pulls-in-apple-next-m-chips-emib-reportedly-wins-google-tpuv8e/
Read the full articleThe Hot Take: Will be interesting to see where this goes. I'm wondering what type of cooling/heating this will bring using this medium over what it's replacing.
Amkor says that Glass Substrates, a packaging technology replacement for CoWoS spearheaded by Intel, is set for commercialization within 3 years. Intel-Partner, Amkor, Says Glass Substrates Will See First Commercialization Within Three Years Advanced Packaging is key to any major foundry business as chips are getting more and more complex to meet growing compute and memory demands. TSMC is the single-most important advanced packaging provider in the world thanks to its CoWoS 2.5D technology. Current chip requirements involve integration of HBM and logic chips in a single package & the number of HBM chips is expanding aggressively. Recently, OpenAI showcased […]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intel-backed-glass-substrates-tech-will-be-commercilization-ready-within-three-years/
Read the full articleThe Hot Take: I support this, the soldering and making everything toss away electronics is maddening.
"California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, Oregon and Washington have all passed comprehensive right-to-repair regulations," reports CNBC, "covering everything from consumer electronics and farm equipment to wheelchairs and automobiles." And the consumer movement "continues to gain political momentum" across America... As of this year, advocates are tracking 57 right-to-repair bills across 22 states. In Maine, the state senate just advanced a bill that would bring the right to repair to electronics in the state. Texas's new right-to-repair law kicks in on Sept. 1 and covers phones, laptops, and tablets, but excludes medical and farm equipment, and game consoles.... [U.S.] Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are unlikely political bedfellows but have joined together to sponsor the REPAIR Act... The REPAIR Act would require automakers to give vehicle owners, independent repair shops, and aftermarket manufacturers secure access to vehicle repair and maintenance data, preventing manufacturers from funneling consumers into their own exclusive and more expensive dealership repair networks... Hawley criticized big corporations in his arguments in favor of right-to-repair legislation. "Big corporations have a history of gatekeeping basic information that belongs to car owners, effectively forcing consumers to pay a fixed price whenever their car is in the shop," Hawley told CNBC. "The bipartisan REPAIR Act would end corporations' control over diagnostics and service information and give consumers the right to repair their own equipment at a price most feasible for them." The largest small business lobby in the U.S., the NFIB, says 89% of its members support right-to-repair legislation, making it a top legislative priority for 2026. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read the full articleThe Hot Take: I'm wondering if they're holding out to see if China catches up to ASML's equipment as I know they are dumping boat loads of money to try and catch up to ASML's monopoly.
ASML has launched its 0.55 High Numerical Aperture Extreme Ultraviolet (High-NA EUV) in an effort to extend Moore's Law. The market had originally expected TSMC to adopt it first, but the company has held back. TSMC Senior Vice President of Global Business Kevin Zhang stated at the North America Technology Symposium that there are currently no plans to introduce High-NA EUV before 2029, mainly because "it's too expensive!" This decision also reflects how TSMC is shifting competition focus from equipment to process integration and cost efficiency.
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