OpenAI, Broadcom to Build Their Own AI Semiconductor… Challenge Nvidia
On the 18th (local time), the American tech media outlet The Information reported that OpenAI hired Richard Ho, who was creating Google’s AI semiconductor TPU (Tensor Processing Unit), to create its own AI semiconductor for servers. To this end, it explained that OpenAI is in talks with companies including Broadcom, which provides ASIC (custom semiconductor) design services.
Broadcom is known to be providing AI semiconductor design services for servers, such as Google’s TPU and Meta’s MTIA. After the news of OpenAI and Broadcom’s collaboration came out, Broadcom’s stock price reversed upward and closed the day up 2.9%.
However, The Information reported that OpenAI has not yet started chip design and that production will not be possible until 2026 at the earliest.
US to Provide 550 Billion Won in Semiconductor Subsidies to Taiwan Global Wafer
The U.S. Department of Commerce plans to provide up to $400 million (about 550 billion won) in government subsidies to Taiwanese wafer material producer Global Wafer.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on the 17th (local time) that it would establish the first manufacturing facility for 300mm silicon wafers for advanced semiconductors in the U.S. and expand silicon-on-insulator (SOI) production to strengthen the domestic supply chain for key semiconductor components.
A wafer is a thin disc that serves as a semiconductor material. Global Wafer is the world’s third-largest wafer material manufacturer.
SK’s ‘Rich Semiconductor Business’ Attached to Eco Plant
According to industry sources on the 16th, SK Ecoplant will hold a board meeting on the 18th and decide on the acquisition of Essencore and SK Materials Airplus. Essencore, which is controlled by SEAsia Pte, a Singaporean special purpose corporation in which SK Co., Ltd. holds a 100% stake, will be transferred to SK Ecoplant in the form of an in-kind contribution, and SK Co., Ltd. will receive an equal amount of shares in SK Ecoplant. SK Materials Airplus, a subsidiary of SK Materials, will also be incorporated in the same manner.
Essencore, headquartered in Hong Kong, is a company that processes and distributes DRAM and NAND flash semiconductors from SK Hynix into SD cards, USBs, etc. Thanks to its stable supply and solid sales network, it posted an operating profit of 59 billion won last year despite the sluggish semiconductor industry. In 2021, when the semiconductor market was good, it posted an operating profit of 112 billion won. Last year’s sales were 821 billion won.
“TSMC investment increases to 51 trillion”
According to foreign media and industry sources on the 15th, TSMC’s facility investment this year is expected to reach 32 billion dollars. This is the maximum amount of capital expenditure (28-32 billion dollars) announced by TSMC.
TSMC is expected to invest up to $37 billion next year. This is $5 billion more than this year’s estimate and the second largest investment ever, following $36.29 billion in 2022. The reason TSMC is making such a large investment is because demand for AI semiconductors remains steady.
Taiwanese media outlets, including the United News, cited sources as saying that TSMC will respond to increased demand by conducting research and development (R&D) on advanced processes such as 2-nanometer semiconductors, which exceeded expectations.
Gaonchips-Above Semiconductor Collaborate on Development of 28nm High-Performance Home Appliance MCU
Above Semiconductor and Gaonchips are collaborating to develop high-performance consumer electronics microcontrollers (MCUs). Through this collaboration, the two companies will develop high-end consumer electronics MCUs using Samsung Electronics Foundry’s 28nm process technology.
Above Semiconductor is a company specializing in home appliance MCUs, and has developed various products using mainly 65nm to 130nm processes. The company recently developed an MCU that applied a 28nm fine process for the first time in the industry for the home appliance market, which is becoming more high-performance with the addition of AI functions and lower power consumption, and plans to fully introduce a high-performance MCU product lineup.
Coasia Semiconductor and Taiwan Faraday Form Strategic Partnership
Coasia Semiconductor, a system semiconductor design subsidiary of Coasia, announced on the 15th that it had completed the payment of 40.5 billion won in paid-in capital increase funds from Faraday, a foreign strategic investor.
Coasia has continued to make planned investments in Coasia Semiconductor with its own funds for the past five years and has attracted an investment of KRW 40.5 billion (USD 30 million) from foreign investors for the first time since its establishment to achieve a quantum jump in Coasia Semiconductor’s business.
Faraday is participating as a strategic investor (SI, Strategic Investor) by acquiring new convertible preferred shares (CPS, Convertible Preferred Shares) through Sheng Bang Investment, a wholly owned investment subsidiary. Faraday has something in common with Samsung Foundry as a design solution partner.
Samsung Electronics MPW Number of Times Expanded for 4 Consecutive Years
Samsung Electronics Foundry is strengthening its symbiotic relationship with fabless companies by increasing its support for semiconductor multi-project wafer (MPW) shuttles for the fourth consecutive year. Samsung Electronics plans to increase the number of MPWs provided annually from 23 times in 2022 to 35 times next year. This is expected to further boost startups’ mass production of new product chips.
Multi-project wafer (MPW) is a multi-variety, small-quantity production method that produces different types of semiconductor products on a single wafer.
Ford, GM, etc. increase investment in internal combustion engine vehicles again due to slowing electric vehicle sales
As demand for electric vehicles does not grow as much as expected, major U.S. automakers, including Ford and General Motors (GM), are shifting their investments toward internal combustion engine vehicles. Plans to convert internal combustion engine vehicle plants to electric vehicle production plants are being canceled one after another.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 18th (local time) that automakers that were competing by investing billions of dollars in developing electric vehicles are now doubling their investments to maintain market share for more profitable internal combustion engine vehicles.
Ford announced in a press release today that it plans to convert its Oakville, Ontario, Canada, plant into a production facility for its best-selling internal combustion engine model, the Super Duty pickup truck.
“US: Electric Vehicle Charging Stations to Surpass Gas Stations in 8 Years”
Considering the current growth rate of electric vehicle charging stations in the United States, an analysis has shown that in eight years, the number will exceed the number of gas stations.
Bloomberg reported that the number of public electric vehicle fast-charging stations in the U.S. increased by 704 in the past three months, citing data from the energy department of its own climate change expert platform, Bloomberg Green. Currently, there are about 9,000 electric vehicle fast-charging stations in the U.S., which is 7% of the total.
If charging stations continue to expand at the current rate, the number of public electric vehicle fast-charging stations is expected to outnumber gas stations in eight years.
‘China Electric Car Tariffs’ EU Pre-Vote… Italy in favor, Germany against
Italy and Spain have reportedly expressed support for the EU’s provisional imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, while Germany and Sweden have effectively expressed opposition.
According to Reuters and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle on the 16th, Italy and Spain expressed their support in the preliminary vote on the provisional imposition of countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles. Germany and Sweden expressed their intention to abstain. Abstention in the EU Council vote is effectively interpreted as an opposition position.
France, whose vote was not known in this early vote, has been a strong supporter of additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Hungary, a prominent pro-China member of the EU, has opposed the tariffs. Poland and Greece’s positions are unknown.
Japanese internal combustion engine car factory closes in Thailand… Chinese electric car factory completes one after another
According to local media outlets such as the Bangkok Post and the Nation on the 18th, Aion, an electric vehicle subsidiary of Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), completed construction of a factory in Rayong, Thailand the previous day. This is the first time that Aion has built an electric vehicle factory overseas.
The 85,000-square-meter factory, built with an investment of 2.3 billion baht (88.3 billion won), has an annual production capacity of 50,000 units, and is expected to increase to 70,000 units in the future. The active advance of Chinese electric vehicle companies into Thailand and their facility investments stand in contrast to the moves of Japanese automakers.
Japanese automaker Suzuki has decided to close its Thai plant by the end of next year. Honda will stop car production at its plant in Ayutthaya province and consolidate it into its plant in Prachinburi province by next year.
Unividity Plus Enters Electric Vehicle Heat Dissipation Materials Business
Unividity Plus (CEO Sangjun Han), the number one company in the domestic medium-density fiberboard (MDF) market, is entering the electric vehicle heat-insulating material business. It is an attempt to secure a new growth engine beyond its existing wood panel business.
On the 15th, Univity Plus announced that it acquired 85,714 shares of Oxmaterials, a heat-dissipation material specialist, for approximately KRW 6 billion. After the equity investment, Univity Plus’ stake in Oxmaterials is 29%.
Oxmaterials is a company that produces heat dissipation products for electric vehicles and electronic devices and electric vehicle thermal runaway prevention pads. It is evaluated that it has the technological competitiveness to develop customized products with its own synthetic technology. As the electric vehicle market expands, it is contributing to the domestic production of heat dissipation materials related to electric vehicle fire prevention.
Battery acquisition strategy… SK Group launches ‘106 trillion energy dinosaur’
On the 17th, SK Innovation and SK E&S, the energy intermediate holding companies of SK Group, held board meetings and decided on a merger plan between the two companies. If the merger plan is approved at the shareholders’ meeting scheduled for August 27, the merged company will be officially launched on November 1.
SK Trading International, which recently decided to merge with SK On, is Korea’s only specialized crude oil and petroleum products trading company, and SK Entum is Korea’s largest commercial tank terminal whose main business is the storage and import/export management of petroleum cargo.
SK Innovation said, “This merger among the three companies will improve our profit structure based on an additional 500 billion won in EBITDA from the trading business and tank terminal business.”
Phil Energy Receives First Order for Battery ’46-Pie Winder’
Phil Energy has succeeded in receiving its first order for the 46-pi winder, which is attracting attention as a next-generation cylindrical battery. This is equipment that combines ultra-high-speed laser notching technology and winding function.
Phil Energy announced on the 19th that it signed a supply contract for a 46-pi cylindrical battery winding machine with a European secondary battery company on the 17th. The 46-pi cylindrical battery began to attract attention in 2020 when Tesla unveiled the 4680 (46mm in diameter, 80mm in height) battery.
The equipment that Phil Energy successfully won an order for is a product that combines an ultra-high-speed laser notching process that quickly and precisely processes the anode and cathode, and a coiling process that rolls up the anode, cathode, and separator into a round shape.
Lotte Innovation to launch autonomous security robot ‘Duruai’ at the end of this month
Lotte Innovation announced on the 16th that it will be introducing the autonomous driving security and safety robot ‘DOOROOEYE’ for the first time at the ‘Autonomous Driving & Mobility Industry Exhibition 2024’ to be held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul from the 17th to the 19th.
‘Autonomous Driving & Mobility Industry Exhibition 2024’ is Korea’s first autonomous driving specialized exhibition hosted by the Korea Autonomous Driving Industry Association and COEX.
The robot ‘Duruai’ developed by Lotte Innovate is an autonomous robot based on an Internet of Things (IoT) device with enhanced security and safety functions. It drives at low speeds in factories, the outskirts of buildings, etc., and detects signs of facility security and safety abnormalities to help prevent accidents in advance.
Rideflux, targeting the autonomous cargo transport market
RideFlux, a self-driving software startup, announced on the 15th that it is entering the self-driving cargo transportation market.
RideFlux is a tech startup that last month became the first in Korea to obtain a temporary permit for unmanned autonomous driving that can drive up to 50 km/h without a human driver. Based on this technological prowess, RideFlux plans to enter the cargo transportation market following the passenger market.
Samsung OLED technology worth 340 billion won leaked to China… 6 years in prison and detention
A former senior researcher who attempted to smuggle Samsung Display’s cutting-edge OLED technology to China was sentenced to prison.
Suwon District Court Criminal Division 12 Chief Judge Ha Sang-je announced on the 18th that he had sentenced former Samsung Display senior researcher A, who was indicted on charges of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (overseas leakage of trade secrets, etc.), to 6 years in prison.
Person A, a senior researcher who worked at Samsung Display for over 10 years and was in charge of developing OLED display equipment, was indicted on charges of illegally acquiring and using Samsung Display’s trade secrets, such as OLED display ELA equipment inversion optical systems and OCR inkjet equipment technology, for the purpose of selling and providing them to Chinese companies from 2018 to May 2020.
Finetech signs 6.9 billion won contract to supply OLED manufacturing equipment to Vietnam
Finetech announced on the 16th that it signed a contract with Samsung Display Vietnam to supply organic light-emitting diode (OLED) manufacturing equipment worth 6.89534 billion won. This is equivalent to 15.40% of recent sales, and the contract period is from the previous day to December 30.
Finetech is a specialized company in bonding equipment used to attach various semiconductor chips in OLED post-processing.
LGD, Another Innovation in Vehicle Tandem OLED… 3rd Generation Product to be Mass-produced in 2026
LG Display (034220) will begin mass production of its third-generation tandem organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products for vehicles with improved display brightness and durability starting next year. Following the first commercialization of tandem OLED in 2019 and the mass production of the second-generation product last year, it is interpreted that the company has begun full-scale product development by setting the timing for mass production of the next-generation product. As the demand for tandem OLED has expanded to include IT products such as tablets in addition to full-screen displays, its contribution to improved performance is also expected to grow further.
Tandem OLED, which LG Display successfully commercialized for the first time in 2019, is a product that stacks red, green, and blue (RGB) organic light-emitting layers in two layers, and is superior in durability and performance to existing single-layer OLED panels. The company is supplying the second-generation products mass-produced last year to customers in earnest this year, and is also planning to mass-produce next-generation products to secure customers first.
Source: kipost.net