China's commerce minister has expressed a welcoming attitude towards Micron Technology Inc deepening its presence in the Chinese market, indicating a thaw in relations between the two countries. The announcement comes after the G7 nations agreed to 'de-risk, not decouple' from China and as the US pressures its allies to restrict chip equipment exports to China. The US shift from the decoupling push of the Trump era is due to China's economic strength. The re-engagement between the West and China highlights the acknowledgement that the world's biggest manufacturer cannot be ignored. The meeting between the Chinese Commerce Minister and the CEO of Micron Technology is in line with the recent easing of tensions between the US and China, as they work towards a meeting between the US President and the Chinese President later this month. The US, Canada, and Latin American countries have also pledged to strengthen supply chains in areas such as clean energy, medical supplies, and semiconductors as a countermeasure against China and to promote regional trade links.
China's welcoming attitude towards Micron Technology's expansion in the Chinese market indicates a thaw in relations between the two countries. The meeting between the Chinese Commerce Minister and the CEO of Micron Technology is in line with the recent easing of tensions between the US and China, as they work towards a meeting between the US President and the Chinese President later this month. The US, Canada, and Latin American countries have also pledged to strengthen supply chains in areas such as clean energy, medical supplies, and semiconductors as a countermeasure against China and to promote regional trade links. [47645a27]
Micron Technology, Inc. has announced an enhanced partnership with Silvaco Group, Inc. The partnership includes expanding the scope and extending the term of their software license and support services. Micron has also made a $5.0 million investment in Silvaco in the form of a senior subordinated convertible promissory note. The investment reflects their partnership for the development of Silvaco's FTCOâ„¢ digital twin modeling tools. Silvaco's CEO, Dr. Babak Taheri, explained that FTCOâ„¢ uses manufacturing data to create a computer model or 'digital twin' of a wafer, allowing customers to run simulation experiments to enhance wafer yield without the need for physical wafers. Dr. Gurtej Sandhu, principal fellow of Technology Pathfinding at Micron Technology, expressed excitement about strengthening their partnership with Silvaco and the potential for Silvaco's AI and digital twin solution to accelerate their advancements. Silvaco is a provider of TCAD, EDA software, and SIP solutions for semiconductor design and AI. They are headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and have a global presence with offices in various countries. [19f85aa4]
Micron Technology, Inc. is partnering with GlobalFoundries, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), and other industry, government, and education leaders to increase access to opportunities and meet the growing demand for semiconductor talent in the U.S. Micron will launch its Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Semiconductor Network, a partnership with 16 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander-serving institutions (AANAPISIs) to develop a diverse, semiconductor-ready STEM workforce. Micron is also partnering with NSF and GlobalFoundries to focus on funding student programming and infrastructure at various institutions to increase access to equitable education. Micron is establishing partnerships with Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to support career reentry programs through Welcome Corps at Work, providing opportunities for individuals from refugee and immigrant communities in East Africa to pursue careers at Micron. The MSI Semiconductor Network joins Micron's three existing university semiconductor networks in their mission to grow the STEM talent pipeline. Micron's workforce development initiatives are part of its planned investment of approximately $50 billion in gross capex for U.S. domestic leading-edge memory manufacturing through 2030. [846aa830]
Micron Technology has raised its capital expenditure forecast for 2024 to about $8 billion, up from its earlier forecast of $7.5 billion. The U.S. chipmaker is investing heavily in high bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors to meet the growing demand from the AI industry. Micron is one of the three major providers of HBM chips, with its advanced HBM3E being used in Nvidia's H200 chips. The company's HBM chips were sold out for 2024, and a majority of its 2025 supply has already been allocated. Micron currently offers eight-layer HBM and has started sampling 12-layer HBM. CFO Matt Murphy announced the $8 billion capex forecast, up from an earlier $7.5 billion estimate, emphasizing HBM's potential to be a multibillion-dollar segment by fiscal 2025. Micron shares fell by about 3% despite positive forecasts, reflecting broader market conditions. Semiconductor stocks like Micron could offer insights into future growth areas, particularly if AI demand continues to spike. Micron's expansion in HBM chip production aligns with escalating global tech demands driven by AI. Geopolitical and economic shifts are expected to influence this sector as nations invest in AI and related technologies. [009a6899]
South Korean company Mimir IP has filed a $480 million lawsuit against Micron Technology, accusing the US semiconductor manufacturing company of patent infringement. Mimir IP, described as a non-practicing entity (NPE) or patent troll, purchased 1,500 patents from SK Hynix in May and used them to file lawsuits. If successful, the lawsuit could earn Mimir IP up to $480 million and force defendants to sign licensing agreements. Selling patents to patent trolls has become a common practice among companies to wage proxy wars against their competitors. This lawsuit marks the latest development in an 'AI proxy war' between rival companies in the semiconductor industry. [a7074789]
SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron are expanding HBM production capacity to meet the growing demand of the AI market. HBM3 and HBM3E orders from all three major DRAM manufacturers are completely out of stock until the end of 2025. The three companies have started expanding their respective HBM production capacity and have placed large equipment orders with US company Applied Materials. HBM4, which offers more performance and power savings compared to HBM3 and HBM3E, is in development and will be released in 2025. NVIDIA's next-generation Rubin R100 AI GPU will use HBM4 memory. The order visibility for HBM production is expected to be strong throughout this year and into 2025. Applied Materials will expand its outsourcing of related equipment OEMs to Jingding in Q2 2025. HBM supply growth is estimated at 260% in 2024 and consumes 14% of the DRAM industry. HBM prices have increased by 500% due to AI GPU demand. SK hynix is the leader in HBM production. SK hynix is also working with TSMC on HBM4 and next-gen semiconductor packaging technology. SK hynix is investing an additional $1 billion in HBM memory for future-gen AI GPUs. AMD's new Zen 5-based Ryzen AI 9 365 'Strix Point' APU is being tested early and confirms Zen 5 IPC boosts. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang envisions future games with AI-generated textures and objects. The article was written by Anthony Garreffa, a long-time PC enthusiast and reviewer of graphics cards. [fa7969fe]
Huawei has partnered with Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to develop high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are essential for artificial intelligence (AI) projects. The initiative also involves Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Tech and Tongfu Microelectronics, who will provide advanced packaging technology. This move is part of Huawei's efforts to defy US tech sanctions. China's progress in HBM chip development is closely watched due to US tech restrictions. Huawei's Ascend 910B is gaining market interest as an alternative to Nvidia's A100 GPU in AI development. However, the global market for HBM chips is dominated by SK Hynix, with a 50% market share. China's semiconductor supply chain is not yet ready to fully benefit from the booming HBM chip market. [76a9af83]
Samsung Electronics has launched a team dedicated to developing advanced high-bandwidth (HBM) memory and a separate team handling advanced chip packaging. The HBM team will focus on developing the fifth-generation HBM3E and sixth-generation HBM4 chips. The launch of these teams is part of Samsung's organizational revamp, led by Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun, to catch up in the top-end AI chip market. Samsung aims to supply its HBM chips to Nvidia, the world's top AI chip designer. The company has already begun mass production of its HBM chips for generative AI chipsets and plans to triple its HBM output this year. The advanced chip packaging team will be under Jun's direct control and will focus on packaging technology to enhance chip performance. Samsung aims to compete with its rival TSMC in this area. [d6bcdf80]