DIGITIMES Asia: News and Insight of the Global Supply Chain's Journal

Data center firms keen to diversify AI GPU sources

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD220/ai-gpu-amd-apu-data-center-gpu-nvidia.html

Data center manufacturers are keen on diversifying their AI GPU suppliers. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) intends to reap the most benefits with its Instinct MI300 series, offering an alternative to Nvidia's H100 GPU, according to industry sources.

Samsung to raise NAND wafer prices, sources say

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD218/samsung-nand-memory-chips-quote.html

Samsung Electronics has notified module customers it is going to raise the official quotes for NAND wafers, according to industry sources.

STMicroelectronics to make 200mm SiC devices with Sanan in China

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608VL200/stmicroelectronics-china-200mm-sic.html

STMicroelectronics (ST) announced it would form a joint venture with China-based counterpart Sanan Optoelectronics to secure a share in China's rapidly growing vehicle and industrial electrification market despite an ongoing geopolitical risk confronting the semiconductor industry.

India's internet economy is expected to reach US$1 trillion by 2030

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608VL201/economy-india-internet.html

Thanks to increasing internet adoption by consumers, the digitalization of enterprises, and efforts by the government, India's internet economy is expected to reach US$1 trillion by 2030.

Periscope and glass-plastic hybrid lenses to be standard for smartphones

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD212/largan-precision-smartphone-lens-glass-plastic-hybrid-lens-lens-module-periscope-lens.html

Periscope and glass-plastic (G+P) hybrid lenses will become the norm as high-end smartphones gain popularity, according to Adam Lin, chairman of smartphone lens module maker Largan Precision.

Network device assemblers optimistic about AI-driven demand

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD216/accton-alpha-networks-arcadyan-network-device-sercomm-wistron-neweb.html

Taiwan-based network device assemblers such as Accton Technology, Alpha Networks, Arcadyan Technology, Sercomm, and Wistron NeWeb (WNC) are optimistic about long-term demand stemming from AI.

PMIC suppliers see pressure on gross margins

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD219/texas-instruments-pmic-power-management-ic-price.html

Power management IC (PMIC) suppliers are seeing pressure on their gross margins as a result of market price cuts, according to industry sources.

Realtek sues MediaTek for patent bounty arrangement

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD223/realtek-mediatek-patent-lawsuit.html

Realtek Semiconductor has filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of California against MediaTek, Future Link Systems, and Future Link's parent company, IPValue Management, alleging that patent assertion entities (PAE) Future Link and IPValue conspired with MediaTek and violated the federal Sherman Act and California's Unfair Competition Law by entering into an illegal "bounty" agreement that incentivized Future Link to improperly sue Realtek.

Panel price increases come one wave after another

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230605PD205/auo-innolux-lcd-monitor-lcd-tv-panel.html

Driven by the expectation of rising prices, LCD TV panels have maintained a healthy inventory. The stable stock demand has pushed up price quotes in June, which continue to rise. As for IT panels, LCD monitor panel price increases have been expanding ever since a partial price increase began back in April. It's expected that there will be more price increases in June. Meanwhile, notebook panel prices have remained unchanged.

Nanya and Winbond see May revenue rise, Macronix down

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD221/dram-macronix-nanya-winbond-revenue.html

DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology and Winbond Electronics, a maker of specialty DRAM and flash memory, both saw their May revenue increase 2.2% and nearly 8%, respectively, on month, while revenue at mask ROM and flash chipmaker Macronix International declined 24.2%.

Rising Demand, chiplet and 3DIC trends offer bright outlook for CHPT

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD213/chpt-test-interface-application-processor-chiplet-demand.html

In a media debrief following the shareholder meeting, Huang Shui-Ke, president of Chunghwa Precision Test (CHPT), outlined the company's struggle in the previous year. The first quarter of 2023 was particularly challenging, resulting in minor losses. However, the firm is on track to attain a break-even point in the second quarter, with a potential profit margin surfacing, according to Huang.

LED maker Tyntek expects loss to narrow in 2Q23

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD214/tyntek-2q23-gross-margin-led-loss.html

Tyntek, a manufacturer of LED chips and Si-based sensors, is expected to see the losses of its core business narrow in the second quarter, even though it has adjusted lower the prices for some items to maintain market share amid sluggish demand, according to company sources.

Edom sees inventory return to normalcy as early as 3Q23

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD222/2023-edom-technology-inventory.html

IC distributor Edom Technology expects its inventory to revert to normal levels as early as the third quarter of 2023.

Taiwan equipment suppliers eyeing orders for iPhone RF peripheral IC testing

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD217/taiwan-supply-chain-iphone-ic-testing-equipment.html

Taiwan-based semiconductor tool vendors stand a chance of breaking into the supply chain for Apple's iPhones by supplying RF peripheral IC test equipment, according to industry sources.

Novatek, Realtek May performance meet market expectations

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD215/novatek-realtek-semiconductor-revenue.html

Display driver IC specialist Novatek Microelectronics and Network IC vendor Realtek Semiconductor have reported May revenues that meet market expectations.

TPK, HDRE team up for energy storage systems, EV charging piles

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD224/tpk-ev-charging-it-components-peripherals.html

Touch module maker TPK has disclosed plans to form a joint venture with HD Renewable Energy (HDRE) to develop and produce energy storage systems and charging piles for electric vehicles (EVs). The joint venture aims to capitalize on Taiwan's emerging energy storage business opportunities and the booming EV charging pile market worldwide.

In conversation with Tata's Tejas Networks: a deep dive into 5G innovations and global telecom ambit

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607VL208/tejas-networks-india-telecom-5g-innovations.html

As technologies continue to evolve, there is a rising need for quick and economical deployment of mobile and fixed broadband networks across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the existing urban-rural "digital divide," magnifying the urgency to efficiently address this broadband deficit in isolated regions.

AESC breaks ground South Carolina plant to supply BMW

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608VL202/aesc-bmw-united-states-battery-plant.html?chid=13

Japan-headquartered battery maker AESC broke ground on its plant in South Carolina, USA, on June 7. The facility, expected to become fully operational in 2026, will support BMW EVs made in the same state.

Inventec AI accelerator-inside ICs to be produced in Q4

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD210/inventec-ai-ic-design-distribution-ict-manufacturing.html

Inventec Corp., a Taiwan-based original design manufacturer for PCs and servers, disclosed that its AI accelerator VectorMesh has attracted several top-10 IC design companies in Taiwan, and ICs with the accelerator inside is expected to be manufactured in Q4 of 2023.

SK Hynix begins mass production of 238-layer 4D NAND

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608VL203/sk-hynix-238-layer-4d-nand-product.html

SK Hynix has begun mass production of its 238-layer 4D NAND flash memory, and product compatibility testing is presently being conducted with a global smartphone manufacturer, according to the memory chipmaker.

Apple's Vision Pro welcomes long overdue debut; affordable second-gen model enters development stage

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD202/apple-vision-pro-ar_vr-headset.html

Apple's first mixed reality (MR) headset device Vision Pro finally made its much-anticipated debut. Supply chain sources revealed that in addition to testing the market temperature with the first generation of Vision Pro, development for a more affordable second-generation model is also underway.

Li Auto on track to begin production at Beijing plant

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608VL205/li-auto-beijing-vehicle-plant.html?chid=13

China-based EV company Li Auto will likely start production at a new plant in the Shunyi district of Beijing between July and August. The facility is expected to make 100,000 battery EVs annually.

Li Auto on track to begin production at Beijing plant

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608VL205/beijing-china-li-auto-plant-vehicle.html?chid=13

China-based EV company Li Auto will likely start production at a new plant in the Shunyi district of Beijing between July and August. The facility is expected to make 100,000 battery EVs annually.

New US GaN patent war may cripple exports of top China vendor

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608PD200/gan-epc-innoscience-patent-infringement-us-china-chip-war.html

A recent patent lawsuit filed by US-based gallium nitride (GaN) technology specialist Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) against China's top GaN devices vendor Innoscience Technology is likely to deter the latter from developing its sales abroad.

High-efficiency centrifugal chillers increasingly needed at datacenters, clean rooms

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PD201/chips+components-cooling-green-production-mitsubishi-heavy.html

With energy conservation, carbon reduction, and green production becoming an irreversible trend in all industrial fields, incorporating highly energy-efficient equipment and intelligent system learning mechanisms will enable enterprises to promote energy transformation with integrated solutions. In this regard, highly efficient centrifugal chillers supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) are among solutions that can serve the needs of industrial manufacturers, according to Up Young Cornerstone, MHI's sole sales agent in Taiwan.

New Micron RDIMM memory solutions enable AI, data analytics, and memory-focused workloads

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607VL210/dram-memory-chips-micron.html

Micron Technology announced the volume production availability of high-capacity 96GB DDR5 RDIMMs that operate at speeds of up to 4800MT/s and have twice the bandwidth of DDR4 memory.

Pegatron chairman hints that company has 'very close relationship' with Apple's Vision Pro

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608VL204/apple-pegatron-vision-pro.html

T. H. Tung, chairman of major electronics manufacturer and Apple supplier Pegatron, was recently asked about Apple's latest product, the Vision Pro. He expressed that the Vision Pro's top-of-the-market price is due to it pushing the limits for this kind of product. Regarding Pegatron's involvement, he simply stated that Pegatron "has a close relationship with this product."

Intel announces Arc Pro A60 and Pro A60M GPUs

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230607PR201/intel-arc-ai-gpu.html

Intel has introduced the Intel Arc Pro A60 and Pro A60M as new members of the Intel Arc Pro A-series professional range of graphics processing units (GPUs). The new products are a significant step up in performance in the Intel Arc Pro family and are carefully designed for professional workstations users with up to 12GB of video memory (VRAM) and support for four displays with high dynamic range (HDR) and Dolby Vision support.

Apple's watchOS 10 targets health sector; will Garmin's domain be affected?

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608PD202/apple-watch-garmin-wearable-smartwatch.html

At WWDC 2023, Apple unveiled the latest generation of its smartwatch operating system watchOS 10. Industry sources widely regarded this as the largest update since the initial version was announced in 2015.

Soaring EV sales could still leave world short on emissions goal

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608VL206/battery-green-energy-sales-vehicle-news.html?chid=13

Electric-vehicle sales are poised to more than double by 2026 but eliminating emissions from road transportation by the middle of this century will require even greater efforts, according to BloombergNEF.

Europeans reluctant to de-risk from 'partner' China, survey says

https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20230608VL207/china-europe-us-china-trade-war.html?chid=10

Most Europeans consider China a key economic partner despite seeing limits to the relationship, according to a survey that comes as the bloc tries to find a safe way to engage with Beijing.