Liu Deyin said TSMC helped "stabilize" Sino-US relations; Apple's entire series of computers are updated with their own processors; The Dutch government will review Nexperia's acquisition of Novi News Express

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• Liu Deyin: TSMC helps "stabilize" Sino-US relations
• Media: China's Internet of Vehicles patent applications and growth rate rank first in the world
• Intel will sell its Mobileye stake to raise $1.5 billion to bolster chip manufacturing
• Apple's entire range of computers is updated with its own processor
• IBM has built the first European quantum data center, which is expected to be operational next year
• LG and Hyundai will jointly manufacture Z-shaped stacked plate lithium batteries in the United States
• The Dutch government will review Nexperia's acquisition of Novi
• Japan has set a new target: semiconductor industry sales of more than 15 trillion yen by 2030
• Canalys: North American smartphone market Q1 shipments fell 11.2%, contracting for the fourth consecutive quarter
• Nomura: Nvidia CoWoS demand increases by 50%
• The Foxconn subsidiary successfully manufactured the first 8-inch SiC wafer in Taiwan
• Samsung may miss out on India's Rs 90 crore subsidy due to invoice issues
• TrendForce: It is estimated that Apple Vision Pro headset shipments will be about 200,000 units in 2024, and the price and battery life problems need to be solved
• The European Union requires big tech companies to flag AI-generated content, and analysis says there are technical barriers to actual implementation
• TSMC: It is evaluating Japan's second chip factory, which is still dominated by mature processes in Kumamoto
• GF and STMicroelectronics officially sign agreement for a new 12-inch semiconductor wafer fab in France
• Canalys released the 2023 Q1 global wearable wristband device report, with Apple leading, Xiaomi second, and Huawei third
• According to the news, the US technology industry laid off more than 130,000 jobs in the first five months of this year, setting a new record since 2001

1

[Liu Deyin: TSMC helps "stabilize" Sino-US relations]

At TSMC's shareholders' meeting on June 6, TSMC Chairman Liu Deyin sought to ease concerns that Sino-US tensions pose a threat to TSMC, noting that TSMC, as the world's largest wafer foundry, plays an "important" role in improving Sino-US relations.

Liu Deyin believes that if the overall chip industry in Taiwan continues to grow, it will have a positive impact on geopolitics. "If both Chinese mainland and the United States believe they can't do without TSMC, then our chips, TSMC and Taiwan's flagship chip industry can play an important role in stabilizing tensions between the two sides." He said at the shareholders' meeting.

Liu Deyin said, "TSMC hopes to become the world's semiconductor supplier, to become the world's TSMC is striving to progress, and the current customer trust is increasing compared with three years ago." ”

2

[Apple's full range of computers updated with its own processor]

Apple held the WWDC23 developer conference in the early morning of June 6, launched the M2 Ultra chip, and updated the Mac Pro workstation product line, equipped with this flagship SoC. So far, all Apple computers, including MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro, have been updated to Apple's self-developed Apple Silicon processors, and Intel CPUs have been deprecated in new products.

According to Apple's official description, the Mac Pro equipped with the M2 Ultra chip has up to 2 times the performance of the previous generation of models equipped with Intel processors, and the speed of video processing, transcoding, 3D rendering and other aspects is 3 times faster than before. Given that Apple's ecosystem has an important position in many industries, the abandonment of Intel CPUs for all Apple computers is bound to affect Intel's market dominance.

3

[Dutch government to review Nexperia's acquisition of Novi]

According to foreign media reports, the Dutch government is planning to investigate the acquisition of energy collection start-up Nowi BV by Chinese company Nexperia under the national security law that came into effect on June 1. If the acquisition is found to affect national security, the Dutch government may order the reversal of the transaction.

Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Micky Adriaanssens said the government would use the legislation to review the acquisition. Adriaanssens told the media: "Sensitive technologies such as photonics, quantum technology, radar technology, sensor technology and chips are at risk of being used for military purposes. ”

However, it is also possible that the Netherlands will allow the acquisition of Nowi to continue. Although energy harvesting is a novel and cutting-edge technology, it is not yet the key to any major application or electronics.

4

【Nomura: NVIDIA CoWoS demand increases by 50%】

Since the beginning of this year, the demand for TSMC (2330) advanced packaging CoWoS promoted by NVIDIA has continued to increase. Foreign investor Nomura Securities estimates that NVIDIA's demand for CoWoS this year has grown by 50% to 45,000 wafers, from an estimated 30,000 wafers at the beginning of this year.

Nomura's latest report points out that while the cost of advanced processes is increasing and the pace of upgrades is slowing down, the market is striking a balance between the two due to the rising importance of advanced packaging (AP). CoWoS technology was originally used in niche markets such as high-speed computing, and the main customers are NVIDIA, Google, Supermicro and Amazon, and the cost is higher, about $4,000 to $6,000 per wafer, much higher than TSMC's other packaging technology integrated fan-out packaging (InFO) of $600.

Nomura believes that since the first quarter of this year, the growing demand for AI servers, coupled with NVIDIA's strong earnings report exceeding expectations, has caused TSMC's CoWoS packaging to become a hot topic, because most of the leading AI server chips mainly use TSMC's CoWoS packaging technology.

5

[TrendForce: It is estimated that Apple Vision Pro headset shipments will be about 200,000 units in 2024, and the price and battery life problems need to be solved]

Apple has officially released Vision Pro, a new MR headset that allows users to experience VR and AR, running an exclusive visionOS system with advanced eye-tracking capabilities. The product will first be available in the United States early next year, priced at $3,499 (currently about 24,878 yuan).

TrendForce analysts said that for Apple Vision Pro, its exquisite design and high performance represent an increase in production difficulty and limited production capacity, so in the first half of 2024, only choose to give priority to sales in the United States.

At the same time, considering the price of the product, as well as the temporary lack of necessary application functions and other factors, it is estimated that Apple Vision Pro shipments in 2024 will only be about 200,000 units, and it is necessary to wait for the launch of the follow-up consumer Apple Vision and whether Apple can provide functional services that attract consumers' daily applications, in order to boost the rapid development of the overall AR market.

TrendForce further said that Apple Vision Pro hardware specifications and functional design will undoubtedly be the top AR/VR products at present, but the price is as high as $3499, plus the need for an external power supply to operate for two hours, are unfavorable factors affecting consumers' willingness to buy.

6

[GF and STMicroelectronics Officially Sign New French 12-Inch Semiconductor Wafer Factory Agreement]

GF and STMicroelectronics announced in July 2022 that they will build a new high-capacity semiconductor joint plant in Crolles, France, and have officially completed the signing of the agreement.

According to reports, the factory aims to produce at full capacity by 2026, when the annual production capacity will reach 620,000 300mm wafers, to meet the digital and low-carbon transformation needs of European and even global users in important end markets such as automotive, industry, Internet of Things, and communication infrastructure.

The total capital expenditure, maintenance costs and ancillary costs of the program are expected to be €7.5 billion. The French government (executed by the French National Investment Bank) will provide significant financial support for the new plant. The financial assistance is in line with the objectives of the European Chip Act and the relevant regulations of the French 2030 Plan, and has recently been approved by the European Commission.

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