Semiconductor Market Newsflash #67

Semiconductor Market

Although the demand in the consumer electronics market has yet to recover, the rise of artificial intelligence and flagship smartphones is driving sustained growth in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.The semiconductor foundry industry remains dynamic, with global research firm TrendForce forecasting a 20% annual growth in foundry output value by 2025, up from 16% in 2024.

The stark contrast in end-market demand has intensified competition in the foundry industry. Taiwan remains the world's leading hub, contributing over 70% of global foundry output, with TSMC playing a pivotal role.

Recently, Japan and South Korea have made new moves to strengthen their foundry sectors and enhance competitiveness. Japan's Semiconductor Revival Plan: Continued Investment in Rapidus. South Korea's 20 Trillion Won Plan: Aiming for a “Korean TSMC”?

According to a report from TechNews, citing Tom’s Hardware, since the Chinese government blocks the use of American chips such as AMD and Intel in government operations, Chinese chipmaker Phytium claims to have sold over 10 million units of its FeiTeng series processors.

As noted by a report from Xinhua News Agency, these chips are widely used in key national projects and industries, ranging from cloud servers to end-user terminals.

According to a report by Chinese media outlet ijiwei, China has announced the enforcement of export control measures targeting 28 U.S. entities before Trump takes office.

These measures prohibit the export of dual-use items to these entities, and any ongoing export activities related to these companies must be halted immediately.

China has decided to place 28 U.S. entities, including General Dynamics and Boeing Defense, Space & Security, on its export control list to safeguard national security and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation.conductor Manufacturers

Semiconductor manufacturer

As NVIDIA is gradually ramping up AI servers based on the B200 and GB200 platforms, paving the way for its next-gen GB300 AI server product line, the U.S. AI giant is reportedly making another move discreetly.

According to a report from Commercial Times, NVIDIA is planning to set up an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) division to develop customized chips.

In addition, the report notes that as NVIDIA has selected Taiwan as the base for its ASIC R&D center, it is aggressively recruiting talents from major IC design houses locally, raising concerns about a potential brain drain from Taiwan’s semiconductor sector.

TSMC is actively expanding its advanced packaging CoWoS capacity, with progress reportedly on track, according to Economic Daily News. Industry sources estimate that, with the inclusion of production capacity from facilities acquired from Innolux (AP8) and those in Taichung.

TSMC's CoWoS monthly capacity could reach a record high of 75,000 wafers in 2025—nearly doubling 2024 levels. The expansion is expected to continue through 2026 to meet robust market demand.

According to a report by?TechCrunch, citing?The Information, despite U.S. government efforts to restrict Chinese companies from accessing cutting-edge chips, sources cited in The Information reveal that ByteDance,?the Chinese parent company of the popular short video platform TikTok, plans to invest up to USD 7 billion in 2025 to procure NVIDIA chips from regions outside China.

The report notes that this initiative could make ByteDance one of the world’s largest buyers of NVIDIA chips.

Samsung Electronics is currently facing a series of challenges, including competition from China, potential U.S. tariff hikes, and a slow progress in South Korea's semiconductor policies.

Samsung's most urgent challenge stems from Chinese competitors flooding the general DRAM market with significantly low prices.

Donald Trump's return to office on January 20 poses another imminent risk, as indicated by the report. Trump administration's protectionist tariff policies could increase the cost of Samsung's memory chips while reducing demand for smartphones and PCs that incorporate them.

End Users

According to a report from South China Morning Post, Huawei has been reducing prices for its premium smartphones to stimulate sales in China, the world’s largest smartphone market.

The report highlights that Huawei has slashed the price of its Pura 70 Ultra, released in April 2024, to RMB 8,999 (USD 1,233) for the 1-terabyte version, reflecting an 18% drop from its original price of RMB 10,999. The 512-gigabyte version saw an even steeper discount of 20%.

In July, Huawei had already reduced the Pura 70 series price by RMB 1,000, as noted in the report.

The report also notes that the Mate X5 foldable smartphone, introduced in September 2023, is now priced RMB 2,500 lower than its original starting price of RMB 12,999, representing a 19% discount.

In early December, industry sources indicate that TSMC's 2nm trial production yield has reportedly exceeded 60%, which raises speculations about who would be among the first customers.

However, according to Commercial Times, citing wccftech and MyDrivers, Apple may delay adopting TSMC's 2nm process until 2026 due to cost considerations.