Today's Semiconductors Pulse
SMIC clears final hurdle for $5.97B takeover of SMNC
China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) secured regulatory approval to acquire the remaining 49 % of its Beijing‑based unit SMNC, valuing the stake at 40.6 billion yuan (≈$5.97 bn). The transaction will be funded by issuing 547.2 million A‑shares at ¥74.20 ($10.91) each, with a 12‑month lock‑up for sellers, making SMNC a wholly‑owned subsidiary.
AXT Announces Public Offering
AXT Inc., a Fremont‑based producer of gallium arsenide, indium phosphide and germanium substrates, announced a public offering of common stock with a 30‑day overallotment option allowing underwriters to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares. The offering is subject to market conditions and may not be completed as planned. Net proceeds are earmarked to fund its Beijing subsidiary Tongmei’s expansion of indium phosphide substrate capacity, support research and development, and provide working capital. Northland Capital Markets serves as sole bookrunner, with four co‑managers.
Samsung Targets May Samples for HBM4E, Eyes Nvidia AI Demand
Samsung Electronics announced it will produce early samples of its seventh‑generation HBM4E memory as early as May 2026, with shipments to Nvidia slated after internal testing. The new HBM4E chip targets up to 16 Gbps per pin and roughly 4 TB/s total...
Japan Quake May Disrupt Semiconductor Supply Chain, Hit NAND and Photoresist Output
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Japan’s northeast coast on April 20, prompting safety shutdowns at several semiconductor facilities. Kioxia halted production at its Iwate NAND flash plants, which represent roughly 5‑8% of global supply, while Tokyo Electron stopped operations at...
Shin-Etsu to Raise Silicone Prices as Costs Pressure Semiconductor Materials
Shin‑Etsu Chemical announced a worldwide price increase of more than 10% for all silicone products, effective May 1. The hike reflects rising crude oil, naphtha, energy, packaging and logistics costs that have squeezed margins. Silicone, a key material for thermal management...
The United States Is Repeating Its Silicon Mistake with Gallium Nitride
China controls roughly 99% of the world’s primary gallium and imposed an outright export ban on the United States in December 2024, leaving the U.S. defense stockpile with zero reserves. The article warns that the U.S. is repeating the silicon...
The Changing ASICs Landscape: The Shift Toward Chip Disaggregation
AI’s rapid growth is forcing ASIC designers to move away from monolithic dies toward modular, disaggregated architectures. By partitioning functions onto smaller, specialized dies and using advanced 2.5D, wafer‑to‑wafer and die‑to‑die packaging, companies can achieve better power, performance, and time‑to‑market...
Infineon Adopts RISC-V for Automotive MCUs, Raising Questions for Hyundai Motor Roadmap
Infineon Technologies, the world’s leading automotive MCU supplier, announced a new family of RISC‑V‑based microcontrollers to join its AURIX line. The move targets software‑defined vehicle (SDV) functions such as zonal controllers, while legacy power‑train and body applications will stay on...
Research Bits: Apr. 21
Researchers at the University of Michigan demonstrated a compute‑in‑memory (CIM) implementation of state‑space models using a 65 nm CMOS resistive‑RAM crossbar, achieving vector‑matrix multiplication within 4.6 bits of the ideal result while dramatically cutting energy use. In Tokyo, scientists from the Institute...
Xbox Project Helix Leak Suggests Shift to Standard PC Hardware Design
A leak suggests Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox Project Helix will forgo a custom APU in favor of a PC‑like architecture built from off‑the‑shelf AMD components. The platform is rumored to pair RDNA 5 graphics with Zen 6 or Zen 6c CPU cores, mirroring modern gaming...
According to a Leak, Microsoft’s Next Surface Lineup Will Feature a New Division: Snapdragon X2 for Consumers, Panther Lake for...
A leak reported by VideoCardz suggests Microsoft will split its upcoming Surface refresh between Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 processors for consumer devices and Intel’s Panther Lake (Core Ultra Series 3) for business models. The rumor aligns with recent announcements: Windows 11 26H1 is optimized for Snapdragon X2,...
Intel Is Reportedly Reconsidering Its Desktop Sockets, but Raptor Lake, of All Things, Might Still Be in the Running
Intel is reportedly planning to lengthen desktop socket lifespans, aiming for AMD‑style multi‑generation support. An insider leak suggests a Raptor Lake refresh could extend the aging LGA1700 platform alongside the upcoming Arrow Lake refresh on LGA1851 and Nova Lake on...
Nordic SoC Powers Holyiot Smart Badges
Holyiot Technology has embedded Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF54L15 system‑on‑chip into its Inkcard‑A1 e‑ink smart badge, delivering twice the processing power and three‑fold efficiency of the prior generation. The Bluetooth LE‑enabled badge can refresh images, QR codes or text in under six seconds...
Infineon Retains Top Automotive Chip Supplier Position for 6th Consecutive Year
Infineon Technologies retained its position as the world’s leading automotive semiconductor supplier in 2025, marking a sixth consecutive year at the top. The firm held a 12.8% global market share, slightly down from 13.2% in 2024, while expanding its automotive...
IBM and Arm Team Up to Build Dual‑Architecture Hardware for AI and Edge
IBM and Arm unveiled a strategic collaboration to develop dual‑architecture hardware devices that merge IBM’s enterprise‑grade system expertise with Arm’s energy‑efficient cores. The partnership targets AI, data‑intensive and edge workloads, promising greater flexibility, reliability and security for corporate customers.
OPPO to Unveil Pad Mini, First Tablet with Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, at April 21 Event
OPPO announced that it will introduce the Pad Mini, the industry’s first tablet to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, at a launch event on April 21, 2026. The 8.8‑inch device is 5.39 mm thin, houses an 8,000 mAh battery and dual cameras, and promises a...
Roundhill Memory ETF Hits $1 B AUM in Just 10 Trading Days
Roundhill Investments' Memory ETF (DRAM) surpassed $1 billion in assets under management only ten trading days after its April 2 launch, marking the fastest‑growing thematic fund of 2026. The fund’s rapid inflow reflects investor appetite for direct exposure to global memory‑chip...
AWS Rolls Out Claude Opus 4.7 on Bedrock and G7e Instances for Faster SageMaker Inference
Amazon Web Services introduced Claude Opus 4.7 on its Bedrock service, offering a 1 million‑token context window and up to 10,000 requests per minute per region. At the same time, AWS unveiled G7e instances powered by NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPUs, delivering up...
Lattice and TI Join Forces to Advance Real-Time Edge AI Sensor Fusion
Lattice Semiconductor and Texas Instruments have teamed up to simplify sensor integration for edge AI, pairing TI’s mmWave radar and camera technologies with Lattice’s low‑power Holoscan Sensor Bridge FPGA solution. The joint architecture streams synchronized sensor data directly into GPU‑accessible...
AI Chip Rally Propels KOSPI to Record High
KOSPI hits record on AI-driven chip rally; SK Hynix, Samsung lead Macro: AI memory demand and Nvidia ties fuel gains. Risks: geopolitics, sentiment reversal. Trade: buy KOSPI tech on pullback. 🚀 — Viktor Kopylov, PhD, CFA. More insights: t.me/si14Kopylov
Neural Networks Become the Computer, Not Just Software
#Technology #Thread #Semiconductor #Manufacturing #Neural The Semiconductor Neural Computer: 1/ - The Neural Computer Paper Frames A System Where The Model Itself Acts As The Computer Rather Than Running On Traditional Hardware Software Stacks/ - It Positions Neural Networks As The Primary Execution...
Capcom's Pragmata GPU Sells 1 Million Units in Two Days, Redefining Workload‑Specific Hardware
Capcom unveiled Pragmata, a GPU engineered for AI training, scientific computing and specialized rendering, and sold more than one million units within 48 hours at a launch price of $1,299. The rapid sell‑through signals strong demand for vertical‑specific silicon and puts...
Google to Fund Multiple TPU Designs for Future FM Models
I’m pretty close to this stuff but there was something here that was affirming, and that is that Google will fund many different TPUs based on the potential future direction of FM model architectures. And many won’t ever make it...
Chip Price Surge Rivals Oil Shock, Adds $300B Surplus
Chip price shock is by some measures as big as the current oil shock -- $300b annual increase in Korean/ Taiwan combined trade surplus v 24 based on latest data (depends of course on where oil settles for the rest...
AMD Bringing Back Ryzen 7 5800X3D to Save the World From DDR5
AMD announced a limited‑edition re‑release of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, pricing it at $449 to mark the 10th anniversary of the AM4 socket. The move gives gamers a high‑performance, 3D‑V‑Cache CPU that can run on existing DDR4 platforms, sidestepping today’s steep DDR5...
First Soft 3D Hydrogel Semiconductor Replicates Living Tissue
World’s First Soft #3D Hydrogel Semiconductor That Mimics Living Tissue by @tweetciiiim #EmergingTech #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/va8SZaZejg
Inside Nvidia’s Silicon Photonics Roadmap
Nvidia unveiled its next‑generation scale‑up system, NVL1152 “Kyber,” which will pack 1,152 GPUs—16 times the capacity of the current NVL72 rack. The machine, slated for the 2028 “Feynman” GPU generation, will combine copper interconnects with silicon photonics and co‑packaged optics...
Google Is Building a Four-Partner Chip Supply Chain to Challenge Nvidia in AI Inference
Google is constructing the AI industry’s most diversified custom‑chip supply chain, enlisting Broadcom, MediaTek, Marvell and Intel to design and produce next‑generation TPUs. The current Ironwood inference chip, now shipping in the millions, offers 42.5 FP8 exaflops per super‑pod and powers...
3D Glass Solutions Commits $234 M to Advanced Chip‑packaging Plant in Odisha
US‑based 3D Glass Solutions (3DGS) announced a ₹1,943 crore ($234 million) investment to build a vertically integrated advanced packaging and embedded glass substrate plant in Odisha’s Info Valley. The project, backed by central and state subsidies, targets a 2030 output of 69,600...
Digital Signal Controllers Zero in on AI Data Center Power Supplies
Microchip Technology unveiled the dsPIC33AK256MPS306, a 200 MHz 32‑bit digital signal controller designed for AI‑driven data‑center power supplies and motor‑control applications. The device packs a double‑precision floating‑point unit, 40 MSPS 12‑bit ADCs, sub‑100 ps PWM timing, and high‑speed comparators, enabling deterministic control loops...
Wi‑Fi Chip Survives 500 kGy Inside Nuclear Reactor
This chip is a Wi-Fi receiver that still works inside a nuclear reactor. It can endure 500 kilograys of radiation. https://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics-in-nuclear-industry
Equal1’s Silicon Processors Power Kvantify’s Quantum Simulation Workloads
Equal1 and Kvantify have formed a partnership to bring silicon‑based quantum processors to life‑science workloads. Equal1’s Bell‑1 server, built on standard silicon, is being shipped as the company’s first‑generation quantum machine, and Kvantify has been named its preferred partner for...
Accelsius Announces General Availability of NeuCool IR150 and Launches NeuCool HyperStart Program
Accelsius announced the general availability of the NeuCool IR150, the first fully integrated 42U rack that combines a two‑phase coolant distribution unit with up to 150 kW of cooling capacity. The plug‑and‑play system is designed for hyperscale, neocloud and enterprise data...
InPHRED Expands Into Data-Center Optical Interconnect Market with InP VCSEL and Micro-RC-LED Solutions
InPHRED Inc., a Boston‑based photonics startup, announced its entry into the data‑center optical interconnect market, leveraging its nanoporous platform to deliver InP VCSEL and micro‑RC‑LED solutions. The company aims to address ultra‑short‑reach chip‑to‑chip I/O and longer intra‑rack links, with Q1 2027...
Authorized Distributor Mouser Electronics Offers Engineers the Latest Technologies From Texas Instruments
Mouser Electronics, an authorized global distributor of Texas Instruments (TI) solutions, now offers over 70,000 TI parts—about 48,000 of which are in stock and ready to ship. The catalog includes the latest TI power‑management ICs, ultra‑low‑offset op‑amps, SPI I/O expanders,...
Agentic AI Adds $1.2B to CPU Substrate Market, Shortage Deepens
The one area I did not go deep in my CPU report. Morgan Stanley on the ABF substrate demand tied to the CPU TAM expansion. - Agentic AI to broaden the Server CPU ABF Substrate TAM by US$1.2B: - ABF Substrate under-supply...
Disruption of Apple Hinges on This Chip Ecosystem
If something’s going to truly disrupt Apple, it’ll be powered by some derivative of this chip and ecosystem.
Novel Solid-State Transformer Supports 800-V DC Power in AI Data Centers
Navitas Semiconductor and EPFL unveiled a 250‑kW solid‑state transformer (SST) that converts 3.3 kV AC to 800 V DC, targeting AI‑driven data centers. The device uses a single‑stage modular bridge‑rectifier topology and Navitas’s ultra‑high‑voltage SiC MOSFETs, eliminating bulky low‑frequency transformers. Demonstrated at...
AI and HBM to Power Half of TSMC Revenue
AI compute and networking plus HBM controllers will soon drive a third of TSMC’s revenues. And it won’t be long before it is half. $TSM https://t.co/8qSbTnKWqk
John Ternus Drives Apple’s Full‑Stack Growth Flywheel
Good of time as any to recirculate this. Which is now the growth flywheel John Ternus will lead. Apple: The Full Stack Compunder https://t.co/JOdLgVdVhl
WEBINAR: Intrinsic Techniques in RF Power Amplifier Design
Keysight’s second RF Power Amplifier Design master‑class webinar dives into intrinsic modeling techniques for GaN transistors, complementing traditional load‑pull methods. The session showcases a Class J PA built around an intrinsic‑node model, demonstrating how waveform engineering and Fourier‑based impedance mapping boost...
New Google TPUs Arrive, Compute Shortage Trumps GPU Debate
$GOOGL will launch its next generation TPUs this week. The narrative in the press will be Google vs. $NVDA. I strongly suggest not spinning wheels on the TPU versus GPU debate. Right now all capacity is good capacity because we don't...
AI Fuels CPU Renaissance, Lifting AMD, Arm, Intel
AI-Driven 'CPU Renaissance' To Boost AMD, Arm And Intel, Analyst Says https://t.co/QTANhz2sSt $AMD $ARM $INTC $RMBS
Positron AI Enters Nvidia Turf With Oracle Deal
Positron, a fledgling AI‑chip designer, announced its first commercial deployment by supplying inference chips to Oracle’s cloud platform. The deal involves tens of millions of dollars in air‑cooled rack systems optimized for mixture‑of‑experts (MOE) workloads. Positron’s upcoming Asimov chip, built...
MatX Shows How Chips and Models Co‑Evolve
MatX is quietly putting out some of the best content on how chips and models should evolve together
Asrock's New HUDIMM Standard Wants to Make DDR5 Affordable Again, by Cutting It in Half
ASRock unveiled HUDIMM, a new DDR5 memory standard that cuts the traditional two‑sub‑channel architecture in half, halving bandwidth and density to lower costs. Co‑developed with Intel and TeamGroup, Intel will support HUDIMM on its 600, 700 and 800‑series chipsets. The...
Helium Shortage Threatens Global Memory Chip Production
A cascade of helium supply shocks—from Qatar's Ras Laffan plant outage to heightened Middle East tensions—has left memory‑chip makers scrambling. With South Korea sourcing 65% of its helium from Qatar and TSMC holding limited inventories, a prolonged shortage could choke DRAM...
Congress Unveils MATCH Act to Tighten Export Controls on Chipmaking Gear
Representative Michael Baumgartner introduced the MATCH Act, a bipartisan bill to tighten U.S. export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The legislation seeks to close loopholes that allow China to acquire critical chipmaking tools, a move that could reshape enterprise supply...
AVGO Leads in SerDes; MRVL Eyes Google LPU
Agree with this from the JPM note on $AVGO. For at least the time being who has the best SerDes... On TPU / $MRVL it's not for TPU but possible LPU like product for $GOOG https://t.co/fZx7brNrka
Here's Why RAM Prices Won't Be Dropping Anytime Soon
Nikkei Asia reports the global DRAM shortage will persist until around 2027, with U.S. and South Korean suppliers able to meet only about 60% of demand. Samsung’s fourth RAM fab won’t reach full‑scale output until at least 2027, and its...
AOI Receives New $71m Upsized Order for 800G Data-Center Transceivers
Applied Optoelectronics Inc (AOI) secured a $71 million upsized order for 800 G single‑mode data‑center transceivers from a major hyperscale customer, bringing total orders from that client to $124 million since mid‑March. The deal more than doubles AOI's backlog with the customer and...