Semiconductors
When a major industry slowdown occurs, big companies tend to slowdown their mid-term and long-term capacity related investments. This is exactly what happened to SK hynix's Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, a major project announced in April 2021 and valued at $106 billion. While development of the site has been largely completed, only 35% of the initial shell building has been constructed, according to the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy. "Approximately 35% of Fab 1 has been completed so far and site renovation is in smooth progress," a statement by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy reads. "By 2046, over KRW 120 trillion ($90 billion today, $106 billion in 2021) in investment will be poured to complete Fabs 1 through 4, and construction...
GlobalFoundries' 22FDX with MRAM is Ready
GlobalFoundries on Thursday said that it had completed development of its 22FDX (22 nm FD-SOI) technology with embedded magnetoresistive non-volatile memory (eMRAM). The technology can be used for a...
7 by Anton Shilov on 2/27/2020Samsung Starts Mass Production at V1: A Dedicated EUV Fab for 7nm, 6nm, 5nm, 4nm, 3nm Nodes
Samsung Foundry has started mass production of chips using its 6LPP and 7LPP manufacturing processes at its new V1 fab. The new facility employs one of the industry’s first...
30 by Anton Shilov on 2/20/2020ASML Ramps Up EUV Scanners Production: 35 in 2020, Up to 50 in 2021
ASML shipped 26 extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) step-and-scan systems to its customers last year, and the company plans to increase shipments to around 35 in 2020. And the ramp-up...
22 by Anton Shilov on 1/23/2020TSMC Boosts CapEx by $1 Billion, Expects N5 Node to Be Major Success
TSMC is on track to begin high-volume production of chips using its 5 nm technology in the coming months, the company said in its conference call last week. While...
40 by Anton Shilov on 1/22/2020Samsung’s Fab in Hwaseong Suffers Power Outage
Samsung had to stop production of DRAM and V-NAND memory at its fab near Hwaseong, South Korea, due to power outage earlier this week. Damage caused by disruption of...
48 by Anton Shilov on 1/2/2020Japan Partly Removes Restrictions on Photoresists Exports to South Korea
Marking a thawing of relations between the Japanese and South Korean governments, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has partially removed export restrictions on photoresists to...
16 by Anton Shilov on 12/23/2019Intel Hires Fab Veteran, Former GlobalFoundries CTO Dr. Gary Patton
Intel has hired Dr. Gary Patton, the former CTO at GlobalFoundries and an ex-head of IBM Microelectronics business. Dr Patton was leading Global Foundries leading edge processes before that...
21 by Anton Shilov on 12/11/2019Panasonic to Sell Semiconductor Business to Nuvoton
Panasonic has announced plans to almost completely withdraw from semiconductor business and sell all of its related assets to Taiwan-based Nuvoton Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Winbond Electronics...
6 by Anton Shilov on 11/29/2019SMIC Begins Volume Production of 14 nm FinFET Chips: China’s First FinFET Line
SMIC has started volume production of chips using its 14 nm FinFET manufacturing technology. The largest contract maker of semiconductors in China is the first company in the country...
15 by Anton Shilov on 11/14/2019GlobalFoundries and SiFive to Design HBM2E Implementation on 12LP/12LP+
GlobalFoundries and SiFive announced on Tuesday that they will be co-developing an implementation of HBM2E memory for GloFo's 12LP and 12LP+ FinFET process technologies. The IP package will enable...
13 by Anton Shilov on 11/5/2019Sony to Build New Fab to Boost CMOS Sensor Output
Sony this week has revealed that the company will be building a new semiconductor fab to boost output of its CMOS sensors, as part of a broader effort to...
16 by Anton Shilov on 11/1/2019GlobalFoundries and TSMC Sign Broad Cross-Licensing Agreement, Dismiss Lawsuits
GlobalFoundries and TSMC have announced this afternoon that they have signed a broad cross-licensing agreement, ending all of their ongoing legal disputes. Under the terms of the deal, the...
27 by Anton Shilov on 10/28/2019Intel Files Antitrust Suit Against SoftBank-Controlled Firm Over Patent Aggregation
Intel this week filed an lawsuit against Fortress Investment Group, a patent assertion entity controlled by SoftBank. Responding to a series of patent infringement lawsuits that Fortress has brought...
21 by Anton Shilov on 10/23/2019TSMC: 5nm on Track for Q2 2020 HVM, Will Ramp Faster Than 7nm
TSMC’s 5 nm (N5) manufacturing technology is projected to provide significant benefits when it comes to performance, power, and area scaling, which is why the contract maker of semiconductors...
27 by Anton Shilov on 10/23/2019New Tools Simplify Development of 2.5D Multi-Die 7nm Designs at Samsung Foundry
Advanced packaging technologies simplify production and increase performance of highly-complex multi-die SoCs as the semiconductor industry is looking at chiplet approach as an alternative to large dies that take...
5 by Anton Shilov on 10/22/2019TSMC Radically Boosts CapEx to Expand Production Capacities, To Reach $14B For 2019
Forecasting strong demand for its 5 nm and 7 nm class process technologies in the coming years, TSMC has announced that it's increasing its capital expenditure for 2019 by...
18 by Anton Shilov on 10/18/2019EUV Demand is Up: EUV Device Manufacturer ASML Beats Sales Estimates
Between the smartphone revolution, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things, the demand for cutting-edge chips has never been higher. And if you have any doubts about that, then...
46 by Anton Shilov on 10/16/2019Samsung & TSMC Develop 8nm & 7nm Automotive-Grade Nodes
As vehicles are getting ‘smarter’ and gaining autopilot capabilities, it is easy to predict that the demand for higher-performing and more complex automotive SoCs will be growing rapidly in...
29 by Anton Shilov on 10/14/2019New Tools & IP Accelerate Development of 5nm Arm ‘Hercules’ SoCs
Arm, Synopsys, and Samsung Foundry have developed a set of optimized tools and IP that will enable chip designers to build next-generation SoCs based on Arm’s Hercules processor cores...
9 by Anton Shilov on 10/10/2019TSMC: N7+ EUV Process Technology in High Volume, 6nm (N6) Coming Soon
TSMC announced on Monday that its customers have started shipping products based on chips made by TSMC using its N7+ (2nd Generation 7 nm with EUV) process technology that...
27 by Anton Shilov on 10/8/2019