The Tech week that was... April 24~28

Welcome to the latest edition of my weekly newsletter bringing you all the key semiconductor and technology news from around the world in one easy read.?

This week many semiconductor companies reported Q1 results, here are some of the key results.

Intel reported Q1 2023 results this week, with revenue down -36% yoy to US$11.7billion, the 5th consecutive quarter of declining revenue. ?For Q2 they are forecasting revenue will be ?US$12billion.?Intel reiterated that it is on target to meet it’s goal to manufacture chips as advanced as those made by TSMC in Taiwan, and compete for custom work like Apple’s A-series chips in iPhones by 2026.

?Texas Instruments has reported it’s Q1 2023 financial results, reporting revenue of US$4.38billion, down -6% sequentially and -11% yoy.?For Q2 they are forecasting a midpoint revenue of US$4.35billion, approx. flat sequentially, signalling that the demand weakness which started from the consumer electronics market, is spreading into broader markets like enterprise and industrial as rising interest rates saps spending across the board.

?STMicroelectronics reported Q1 revenue of US$4.25billion, down -4% sequentially but up 20% YoY.?For Q2 they are forecasting revenue slightly up at a midpoint of US$4.28billion.?CEO Jean-Marc Chery said STMicro was aiming for full-year midpoint revenue of US$17.4billion.?"We are operating in an environment with significantly different dynamics depending on the end markets we serve. Based on our leadership position, strategic approach and current visibility, we anticipate another year of revenue growth and profitability," Chery said.?

In the memory segment…

Samsung electronics reported revenue of US$47.6billion for Q1 down -10% sequentially due to the weak memory market.?Samsung are forecasting that the market conditions in the 2nd Quarter will remain the same with a recovery in the 2nd half of 2023. Samsungs capex plans for 2023 remain unchanged.

Korean memory manufacturer, SK Hynix reported earnings of US$2.5billion, down -34% sequentially and down -58% yoy, due to weak memory demand and reduced memory prices.?They forecast that Q1 is the bottom of the market and at revenues will increase in Q2. ?

In the equipment segment..

Inspection equipment maker KLA Corp reported revenue for it’s fiscal Q3 that just closed, ?of US$2.24billion, down -18% sequentially and up 6.3% yoy. KLA forecast the current-quarter midpoint revenue of US$2.26billion.

Equipment manufacturer LAM Research reported it’s quarterly earnings with revenue of US$3.87billion, down -27% sequentially.?LAM is forecasting revenue of US$3.1billion for the coming quarter.

?In other news..

The Japanese government announced this week that they will give US$1.94billion in additional subsidies to the new semiconductor manufacturer Rapidus. ?Rapidus intends to start manufacturing 2nm technology devices at it’s Fab to be built in Hokkaido, Japan though a collaboration with IBM.?It plans ot launch it’s prototype line in 2025 with mass production in the 2nd half of the 2020’s.?

Bosch has agreed to buy key assets (buildings, machines and infrastructure of TSI as well as well as its commercial semiconductor business) of US based TSI Semiconductors and invest US$1.5billion to convert and expand US production of SiC chips for electric vehicles by 2026.?TSI has 250 employees and currently runs 0.18μm CMOS, HV, BCD and DMOS processes in it’s 200mm Fab.

A fire broke out at the construction site of TSMC’s new advanced packing factory in Hsinchu, Taiwan this week but no injuries were reported.?The Zhunan factory started construction last year and the main building completed, the fire covered an area of about 300 square meters and affected some chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) piping systems and machines.

TSMC has announced it’s plan to start mass production of it’s advanced 2nm node technology in 2025 are still on track. The company said that the development of its 2nm technology, which utilizes nanosheet transistors, was making progress in yield and device performance, and it is set to enter production in 2025 as scheduled.

Computer-memory company Netlist has won it’s patent infringement trial against Samsung for several patents related to improvements in data processing.?Netlist has been awarded US$303million in damages.?Netlist told the jury that Samsung took its patented module technology which increase the power efficiency of memory modules and allow users to "derive useful information from vast amounts of data in a shorter period of time." after the companies had collaborated on another project.?Samsung had argued that the patents were invalid and that its technology worked in a different way than Netlist's inventions.

It is reported that the US Government has requested South Korean companies Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to not fill any market gap in demand if China bans US based Micron from selling it’s chips in China. Currently China has launched an national security probe into US based memory chipmaker Micron.?So far the probe has not been concluded and it is not clear what if any punitive action will be taken.

In market research news..

Global semiconductor revenue is projected to decline 11.2% to US$532billion in 2023, according to the latest forecast from Gartner.?Memory revenue is forecast to decline 35.5% before recovering in 2024 due to oversupply.?For non-memory segment, PC, tablet and smartphone semiconductor markets will stagnate, whilst automotive and industrial, military/civil aerospace semiconductor markets will grow in 2023.?Gartner are predicting the market will grow 18% in 2024 to US$631billion.

Yole is forecasting that the?wafer Fab equipment market will decline to US$87billion this year, down -13% yoy.?The decline is mainly due to memory manufacturers pushing out or cancelling orders, as well as the difficult geopolitical situation. Yole is predicting that despite the decline in 2023 the market will grow to US$107billion by 2028, a CAGR of 4.3%.

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Stay safe and healthy... bye