The Tech Week that was... Nov 14~18

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.??

Equipment supplier?ASML announces plans to build a factory in New Taipei City?to support international customers and the development of the semiconductor industry.??Construction is planned to begin in July next year.

Sony Semiconductor is reported to?be investing US$71million to build a new factory to assemble automotive image sensor wafers in Thailand?according to Nikkei. The factory already under construction and is expected to complete by March 2025.??The assembly plant will employ 2000 people when completed.

The UK government has?blocked the purchase of the Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia?on security grounds citing “a risk to national security” and order the company to sell it’s majority stake in the Fab.??The decision comes over a year after Nexperia which is owned by China’s Wingtech first announced it had taken control of theFab in Wales in a US$75million deal. Nexperia’s UK boss, Toni Versluijs, said the company was “genuinely shocked” at the decision??whichhe says is wrong and will appeal the decision. The raises questions over the future of the jobs of 550 workers at the Newport site.

Chinese memory chip maker?YMTC and dozens of other Chinese entities are "at risk" of being added to a US trade blacklist?as soon as Dec. 6, a U.S. Commerce Department official said. Last month 31 entities including YMTC were added to the??unverified company list, which triggers a 60 day review process.

Japanese chipmaker Rohm is?considering to join a consortium led by private equity fund Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) to buyout Toshiba. Rohm is reported to be planning to invest up to US$2.1 billion in the proposed US$15billion acquisition of Toshiba.??Rohm has confirmed that it is planning to join the consortium but added that nothing has been decided yet.

Sony is considering joining a consortium of??8 Japanese companies including Toyota, Denso, NTT, Kioxia Holdings, NEC and SoftBank?to launch a new entity to develop and manufacture next generation semiconductors (<2nm technology) according to Nikkei.??Each company will invest approx US$7million in the project.??Former president of equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron, Tetsuro Higashi, will lead the establishment of the new company called “Rapidus” which MUFG bank will also participate and they will solicit further investment.??The Japanese government has pledged US$500million in subsidies for the company.??

Equipment manufacturer LAM Research has announced it has?completed the acquisition of SEMSYSCO?from Gruenwald Equity and other investors.??SEMSYSCO is a global provider of wet processing semiconductor equipment???With the addition of SEMSYSCO, Lam gains capabilities in advanced packaging, ideal for leading-edge logic chips and chiplet-based solutions for high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI) and other data-intensive applications.

In market research news...

Global?DRAM revenue in Q3 2022 fell 29% QoQ to US$18.2billion?according to Trendforce.??The drop in revenue is due to both a 10~15% drop in ASP and also reduced shipments.??The top 3 DRAM suppliers, Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron all experienced a Qoq drop in revenue.?

Sensor sales are forecast to remain strong in 2022?fuelled by the spread of “smart” embedded controls and higher selling prices due to tight supplies in the market, however weakening economic conditions high inflation rates around the world have slowed sensor unit demand in consumer electronics, personal computers, and mainstream smartphone segments since the start of summer according to the latest update from IC Insights.???Sensor unit shipments are forecast to grow just 1% in 2022, but sales are forecast to show double-digit growth to an all time high of US$14.4billion.?

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As COVID numbers start to rise in many countries, stay safe and healthy... bye