The Tech Week that was... May 29 ~ June 2

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.??

Intel is reported to planning to build semiconductor data center development lab in Seoul, South Korea in a bid to ramp up cooperation with major chipmakers in the country.?The company will collaborate with DRAM memory manufacturers to research memory compatibility validation for Intel CPUs.. The lab is expected to be operational within this year.

?This week Kioxia has begun operating two new R&D facilities in Japan - the Flagship Building at the Yokohama Technology Campus and the Shin-Koyasu Technology Front - bolstering the company's R&D capabilities in flash memory and solid-state drives (SSD), according to the company.

Taiwanese chip designer Mediatek plans to diversify away from smartphones to create a more balanced portfolio. Mediatek has counted on smartphone chips, power management chips and chips for other applications to fuel its growth in the past few years, but expects non-mobile phone chips, such as automotive chips, to drive its growth beyond 2025

Vitesco Technolgies and onsemi have signed a 10year long term agreement to secure supply of silicon carbide capacity worth $US1.9billion.?Vitesco technologies has provided an investment of US$250miliion to onsemi for new equipment to support this agreement.

Taiwan foundry UMC says it continues to observe customers adjusting inventory levels, albeit at a slower rate than expected, while cyclical shifts in the business climate persist, according to company co-president SC Chien at the companies shareholder meeting. He added there are no indications that demand will recover significantly in the second half of this year, but remains optimistic about the medium- and long-term growth momentum of semiconductors as 5G, AIoT, and electric vehicles gain popularity

Japan and America have announced a joint roadmap to strengthen global semiconductor supply chains by advancing Japan-U.S. collaboration. The 2 countries affirmed strong alignment on approaches to creating a more resilient semiconductor ecosystem. Also to develop the next generation semiconductor they intend to encourage cooperation between the to-be-established National Semiconductor Technology Center of the United States and the Leading-Edge Semiconductor Technology Center of Japan.

South Korea and China trade ministers meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Detroit.?According to China, the countries have agreed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on semiconductor supply chains whilst South Korea only mentioned that they requested to stabilise the supply of key raw materials, and asked for a predictable business environment for South Korean companies in China.?About 40% South Korea's chip exports go to China, according to trade ministry data, whilst being heavily reliant on American technology.

This week India’s IT ministry said the country would start reinviting applications for its Semicon India Program which encourages locally made chips and displays by offering a 50% incentive on the project cost with a fund of US$10billion.?The program was originally launched in Dec 2021 but it appears the 3 applications received have run into issues to qualify.??The original applicants were from Vedanta-Foxconn JV which is courting STM as technology partner; a global consortium ISMC which counts Tower Semiconductor as a tech partner; and from Singapore-based IGSS Ventures Pte Ltd, The ministry said that some of the original applicants may reapply.

In market research news..

According to Digitimes Research, they estimate that global foundry revenue will drop -9.2% in 2023 due to weakened demand for chips. The decrease in demand is due weaker demand for consumer electronics caused by the Ukraine war, global inflation, and geopolitical tensions.

According to Trendforce total NAND flash revenue fell -16% in Q1 2023 as demand continues to decline.?Shipments ?only increased 2.1% in the quarter despite manufacturers aggressively reduced prices with average ASP’s dropping -15%.

According to Trendforce, global LED demand throughout 2022 saw a significant decline, resulting in a noticeable downturn in both LED lighting and video wall markets.?With the industry faced with a chip surplus, prices also dropped resulting in an overall -23% decline in market value to US$2.8billion.?Trendforce is predicting the market will rebound in 2023 by around 5% to US$2.9billion as the LED commercial lighting is expected to lead a comeback in the overall lighting market.

Shipments to China’s smartphone market shrank to 62million units in Q1’23, down -12.4% sequentially and down -7% YoY, with the market is expected to stay flat in Q2.?The decline was attributed to some brand vendors already pre-stocking extra inventory in December 2022 for their promotions during the Lunar New Year holidays, while most brand vendors' sales in the latter two months of the first quarter after the holidays were down.

That's all for this week. If you enjoyed the newsletter, please “like” or share the article and 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 safe and healthy... bye