Analog Devices has acquired the technology assets of Flex Logix and its technology team.
According to SIA, global semiconductor sales in the third quarter of 2024 increased by 23% to $166 billion, an increase of almost 11% compared to the same period in 2023. Year-over-year sales in notable regions in September: Americas up 46%, China up 23%, Europe down 8%.
Figure 1: Global semiconductor revenue, % change year over year. Source: Compiled by Semiconductor Industry Association, World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Organization.
SK Hynix made a number of announcements at this week’s SK AI Summit, including the rollout of 48GB 16-layer HBM3E next year and the use of hybrid bonding as a backup process. The company also rolled out its next-generation roadmap, including HBM4, UFS 5.0, and future commercialization of AI-optimized HBM and CXL.
Ansys and IonQ are collaborating to incorporate quantum computing into CAE. Under the agreement, Ansys’ multiphysics modeling and simulation software will be combined with IonQ’s quantum computing technology. IonQ also signed agreements with imec and NKT Photonics.
Andreas Schumacher, visiting technical fellow at CSIS, analyzed research and development spending, patent applications, and revenue records. He said he found no major evidence that semiconductor export controls still impede innovation at 30 major chip industry companies in the United States and allied countries. In fact, some have seen an increase in R&D spending and patent filings.
The U.S. Department of Commerce signed two preliminary funding agreements this week. Corning will pay $32 million to increase production at its existing facility in New York, and Powerlex will pay $3 million to modernize and expand its Pennsylvania facility.
The U.S. government has fined GlobalFoundries $500,000 for shipping approximately $17.1 million worth of wafers to a Chinese company. The fine was subsequently reduced due to GF’s voluntary disclosure and correction.
U.S. lawmakers are calling on the government to tighten export controls on Huawei and SMIC, citing SMIC’s 7nm breakthrough as evidence of export violations.
MIT-led researchers have fabricated nanoscale transistors using ultrathin semiconductor materials, achieving performance comparable to silicon transistors while operating efficiently at much lower voltages.
Despite bipartisan support for the CHIPS Act, the semiconductor industry is nervous about potential changes from the new Trump administration following recent statements from President Trump and top Republicans in Congress. Both TSMC and GlobalFoundries have reportedly signed a binding financing agreement. Global Wafers expressed optimism that funding would continue under the new administration.
Government programs across Europe and the UK are rapidly investing in cutting-edge technology, materials and packaging. Industry and academia are collaborating around areas of expertise and leveraging established relationships to foster innovation and bridge gaps in regional supply chains while maintaining international ties. Government efforts are also underway in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and some African countries.
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global
For Europe:
The European Chip Joint Venture is progressing the establishment of the Advanced Photonic IC Pilot line (PIXEurope) by selecting a 20-member consortium. The European Union has launched a formal antitrust investigation into Corning Inc. over its unbreakable Gorilla Glass brand used in mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices. Invoking national security laws, the British government has ordered its Chinese owner to sell its stake in Scottish-based semiconductor design company Future Technology Devices International. Jo De Boeck of imec is working on the NanoIC pilot line in Belgium. Germany’s Merck KGaA and Intel have launched a joint academic research program in Europe, selecting six projects and 11 European scientific institutions focused on sustainability in semiconductor manufacturing.
Figure 2: Clean room at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
In Asia:
Business Korea reported that a new analysis released by the South Korean government shows that semiconductor workers in the country work 24 hours less per month than their Taiwanese counterparts due to labor law regulations. Taiwan-based AIchip recently announced the tapeout of a 2nm test chip featuring the GAA architecture.
Tenstorrent has announced an engineering training program commissioned by the Japanese government to collaborate with Japan’s Advanced Semiconductor Technology Center. The company plans to bring about 200 silicon engineers from Japan to its U.S. base to work on AI/ML technology over five years.
Facility expansion news includes:
New partnerships (see details on “Automotive” below):
Japan’s Fujitsu and AMD have begun a strategic partnership to integrate Fujitsu’s supercomputer technology and AMD’s GPU technology. U.S.-based DuPont and Taiwan-based Zhen Ding Technology Group are partnering to develop advanced PCB technology.
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Semiconductor Engineering published its Automotive, Security, and Pervasive Computing newsletter this week, featuring the following top articles:
More reports this week:
money and market
This week’s chip industry acquisitions:
India’s Tessolve Semiconductor will acquire Germany’s Dream Chip Technologies for approximately $48 million. Macomb has acquired US fabless GaN monolithic microwave IC company ENGIN-IC. Japan’s Hamamatsu Photonics purchased a stake in BAE Systems Imaging Solutions, a subsidiary of BAE Systems, and the company was originally named Fairchild Imaging.
Massachusetts-based MACOM Technology Solutions has been selected to lead an advanced GaN-on-SiC development project for RF and microwave applications with $3.4 million in CHIPS Act funding.
This week’s analyst report says:
Yole Group predicts that power electronics will grow 50% over the next six years, from $23.8 billion in 2023 to $35.7 billion in 2029. Counterpoint predicts Wi-Fi chipsets will grow 12% year over year in 2025, with Wi-Fi 6, 6E, and 7 capturing 43% of the market as Wi-Fi 5’s dominance declines . According to a report by Trendforce, DRAM bit production is expected to increase by 25% year-on-year in 2025, and by 21% excluding Chinese companies. Yole Group reports that back-end semiconductor equipment is expected to recover by 32% in the first quarter of 2025.
Earnings season continues this week with new reports including:
The impact on industry stock prices is as follows: here. (Click here to view the October financial results release)
car
Major automakers are reevaluating how quickly they can move toward advanced technology and software-driven designs under overwhelming financial pressure from low-cost EVs developed in other markets such as China.
Infineon has launched an automotive MCU based on 28nm process technology. AURIX TC4Dx offers enhanced power and performance with virtualization, AI, functional safety, cybersecurity, and networking capabilities. The chip targets new E/E architectures and next-generation SDV with applications such as vehicle motion control, ADAS, and chassis.
New automotive partnerships and deals:
Arm is partnering with Panasonic Automotive Systems to work on a standardized automotive architecture for SDV. The companies will adopt VirtIO, a device virtualization network, with the aim of separating automotive software and hardware development and accelerating development cycles in the automotive industry. Infineon and Stellantis will collaborate on power conversion and distribution for next-generation vehicle architectures and sign major supply and capacity agreements. NHK reported that Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Corporation will establish a joint venture for autonomous driving technology and EV batteries by March 2025. Additionally, Mitsubishi Motors acquired treasury stock from Nissan Motor. Archer Aviation has signed a $500 million purchase order for eVTOL air taxi services from Japan’s Solacle, a joint venture between Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation.
Automotive research and investment:
Researchers at Delft University of Technology have developed a new model that allows self-driving cars to integrate with society. Although lithium batteries dominate today’s rechargeable battery market, challenges are driving research into alternative battery chemistries that can ameliorate some of lithium’s shortcomings and retain as many of its benefits as possible. CNBC also reported on solid-state batteries and silicon negative electrodes. According to the Nikkei Shimbun, Toyota plans to make new investments in EV hybrid batteries in North America.
product news
Siemens Digital Industries Software releases:
The Innexis product suite is designed as a shift-left tool for IC development. The tool includes hardware/software development flows from virtual to hybrid to full RTL and enables the development of digital twins via Siemens’ PAVE360 software.
Infineon has launched a 650V GaN discrete family aimed at applications with switch-mode power supplies such as USB-C adapters and chargers, data centers and communication rectifiers.
Arteris has licensed its NoC IP to Tenstorrent. This product is used with AI graph processors, high-performance RISC-V CPUs, and configurable chiplets.
Figure 3: Tenstorrent expands Arteris NoC deployment for next-generation chiplet-based solutions. Source: Arteris
Altair makes the Polex for ECAD validation tool available free of charge. This tool includes PCB verification tools aimed at simplifying design review, analysis, and initial verification.
the study
UCLA Distinguished Professor Jason Kong was honored at this week’s 2024 Phil Kaufman Award Ceremony for his contributions to FPGA design automation technology.
Figure 4: Jason Cong (center), flanked by Bob Smith of SEMI (left) and Deming Cheng of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (right). Source: Paul Cohen/SEMI
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, the Indian Institute of Science, and MIT have developed a method to amorphize wires made of indium selenide (In2Se3), which has the potential for phase-change memory and data storage.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a low-cost, scalable passive sensor using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.
Northwestern University-led engineers have developed a wearable device that stimulates the skin to produce a variety of complex sensations. The haptic patch is equipped with a new miniature actuator.
Researchers from Darmstadt University of Technology and Texas A&M University have published a technical paper, “Lost and Found in Speculation: Hybrid Speculative Vulnerability Detection.”
SIA and SRC have announced the winners of the 2024 University Research Awards.
Suman Dutta, Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Joseph M. Pettit Chair in Advanced Computing, Distinguished Scholar and Professor, and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech; Michael Flynn, Fawaz T. Urabi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan;
Events and details
Find upcoming chip industry events here, including:
Event Date Location IEEE PAINE Conference: Electronic Physical Assurance and Testing November 12-14 Huntsville, Alabama SEMICON Europa November 12-15 Munich Advanced Packaging Conference (APC) November 13 Munich Infineon’s GaN Roadshow 11 Monday 19th San Jose, California Ansys IDEAS User Conference India 2024 November 20th Bangalore, India 2024 SIA Awards Dinner November 21 San Jose, California Advancing Digital Twins in Semiconductor Manufacturing December 4-5 Milpitas, California IEDM December 7 ~ 11th San Francisco SEMICON Japan December 11-13th Tokyo AI Executive Conference: The Power of AI to Transform Semiconductor Design and Manufacturing December 12th San Francisco Find all upcoming events here
Upcoming webinars include topics such as how automated AFM can be applied to modern hybrid bonding technology nodes and wafer processing steps, memory verification, thermal and signal integrity analysis, and constraint-driven design .
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