The Tech Week That Was.. Jan 27 ~ 31

Welcome to the latest edition of my weekly newsletter bringing you all the key global semiconductor and technology news from last week in one easy read.? Last week was Chinese New Year with Taiwan and China having a week long holiday but there was still lots of news in the rest of the world.

In earnings news…

Intel gave their first earning report since Pat Gelsinger left the company and reported Q4 revenue of US$14.26billion, down -7% year on year (YoY) but up 7% compared to Q3. For Q1 2024 Intel are forecasting a midpoint revenue of US$12.2billion saying that the lower revenue is due to seasonality, economic conditions and competition, clients digesting inventory and the prospect of tariffs adding to the uncertainty.? Intel says it expects to see production revenue from it’s 18A process technology in the 2nd half of 2025. Intel also confirmed it is far along in the process of selling it's Altera subsidiary and expects to be able to report something by 2nd half 2025.? Intel revenue for it’s foundry unit was US$4.5billion, down -13% YoY, and up 2% sequentially.? For the full year Intel foundry revenue was US$17.5billion down -7% YoY. Intels search for a new CEO is still ongoing.

Dutch Lithography equipment manufacturer ASML reported record revenue in Q4 of US$9.6billion which was up 24% sequentially and up 29% YoY due to strong growth from AI and a strong China market.? For the full year revenue was US$29.3billion, down -1.5% YoY. For Q1 2025 ASML are forecasting midpoint revenue of US$8billion, with revenue for full year 2025 around US$33.7 billion. ?

French Italian chip maker, STMicroelectronics reported Q4 revenues of US$3.3billion, down -22% YoY and up 2% sequentially. ? ? For the full year 2024 STMicro reported revenue of US$13.3billion, down -23% YOY.? Revenue decreased across all business units due to weak automotive and industrial markets.? For Q1 2025 STMicro is forecasting revenue of US$2.5billion, down 24.4% sequentially as the downturn in key markets drags into 2025, but they believe that Q1 will be the low point for 2025.? STMicro are planning a significant amount of production days across its fabs, assembly and test plants by plant temporary shutdowns.

Separately STMicro is reported to be considering cuts of 6% of it’s workforce (~3000 employees) at it’s French and Italian plants as part of it’s US$330million restructuring plan according to? Bloomberg.

In other industry news..?

Arm Holdings PLC’s Chinese venture is reported to be planning to appoint Chen Feng, a former executive at Rockchip Electronics Co be its new chief executive officer, seeking to consolidate leadership to better navigate fast-paced geopolitical and technological shifts.? The appointment is expected to be made after this week’s Lunar New Year holiday.

Reuters recently reported that Arm is developing a long-term strategy to hike its royalty rates by as much as 300%, and has discussed designing its own chips in a move which will compete with its biggest customers.

Tata Projects said this week that construction of the US-based chip company Micron Technology's semiconductor assembly and test facility at Sanand near Ahmedabad, India will be completed by December 2025. Currently 60% of the work on India's first assembly and test plant has been completed, with the rest expected to be completed by the end of this year.

In US government news…

Trump has repeated this week his plans to introduce tariffs on semiconductors saying that he plans to impose tariffs up to 100% on semiconductors. To force suppliers to bring production to the US he said “They needed an incentive and the incentive is going to be, they're not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even 100% tax,” and “They're going to build their factory with their own money. We don't have to give them money. They're going to come in because it's good for them to come in.”

Trumps new Commerce Secretary nominee, Howard Lutnick, said that the CHIPS Act is an “excellent down payment” and repeatedly emphasized the importance of revitalizing US semiconductor manufacturing at his confirmation hearing.? However he did not commit to not change the program or the agreed disbursements and said he will review the program

The Taiwan government is considering ways to assist the nation’s semiconductor industry or hosting collaborative projects with the private sector after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips exported to the US, Premier Cho Jung-tai said this week?

In market research news…

Trendforce reports 2 new semiconductor Fab construction projects have been halted recently.? It reports that construction on the GlobalFoundries-STMicroelectronics fab in Crolles, France has been suspended, whilst Sumitomo Electric’s new silicon carbide (SiC) Fab project in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture, Japan has been cancelled due to weak demand in the electric vehicle market and uncertainty regarding demand recovery timelines.? Sumitomo Electric also planned to launch a new SiC production line in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture, Japan with production slated for 2027, but this plan has also been scrapped.? These cancellations follow the earlier announcements from Wolfspeed and Intel.? Wolfspeed has announced it will close it’s 6-inch SiC wafer fab in Durham, North Carolina and move production to it’s 8” line in Mohawk Valley and also Wolfspeed’s planned 200mm SiC fab in Ensdorf, Germany, initially slated to begin construction in summer 2024, has been delayed to 2025.? Intel has postponed construction of its Fab 29.1 and Fab 29.2 facilities near Magdeburg, Germany, whilst Intel’s chip projects in Ohio, USA, have also been delayed with construction?

According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), China's smartphone market grew 3.9% YoY in Q4 shipping 76.4 million units. The growth was driven by new product launches and government subsidies initiated in some provinces and cities. For the full year 2024, the Chinese market grew 5.6% YoY, shipping 286 million units, marking a recovery after two years of decline thanks to pent-up demand and innovations like GenAI.

That's all for this weeks edition. I hope you enjoyed it.? Please remember to “like” or “share” the article so that others may also enjoy it. If you have not already done so, why don't you subscribe and automatically stay up to date with all the industry news in your inbox.

Stay healthy and safe…bye.