Today's Semiconductors Pulse
Analyst says Intel’s >200 P/E valuation is unjustified amid AI hype
Analyst Gil Luria argues Intel’s valuation, trading above a 200‑times price‑to‑earnings multiple, is out of sync with the AI cycle and may be overstating a multi‑year boom. He points to Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom and Micron, which trade at substantially lower multiples and offer stronger near‑term upside. Intel reported Q1 FY2026 revenue of $13.58B, up 7.2 % year‑over‑year, but execution risk remains high.
Also developing:
By the numbers: SiPearl raises $37M Series A
Taiwan Chip Industry Calls for Helium, LNG Reserves Amid Iran War Risks
The Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA) urged the Taiwanese government to build strategic reserves of helium and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and to consider reopening nuclear power plants. The call follows heightened risk that the ongoing Iran‑related conflict could choke off critical raw‑material supplies needed for advanced chip fabrication. TSIA warns that disruptions in helium, essential for photolithography, and energy shortages could jeopardize Taiwan’s semiconductor dominance. The association stresses proactive stockpiling to safeguard long‑term supply‑chain stability.
Vishay Intertechnology 2-Way Wilkinson Divider/Combiner Increases Efficiency, Saves Space in Aerospace, Defense and Connectivity Applications
Vishay Intertechnology has launched the WLKN-000, a 2‑way Wilkinson power divider/combiner targeting aerospace, defense and high‑frequency connectivity markets. The component covers 15‑20 GHz, delivering insertion loss below 0.5 dB and return loss of 10‑15 dB in a compact 1817 surface‑mount package. Its integrated...
Why Die Bonding Fails to Scale: How Do You Move From Prototype to Production Without Starting Over?
Die‑bonding processes often succeed in the lab but falter when moved to high‑volume production because the R&D setup differs from the manufacturing environment. The article argues that the root cause is a lack of production‑centric validation, leading to yield loss,...
Bain Capital's Data Center Unit Removes Disgraced Tenant Suspected of Smuggling Nvidia GPUs to China — Megaspeed Previously Alleged to...
Bridge Data Centers (BDC), the data‑center arm of Bain Capital, terminated its lease with Megaspeed International at a Malaysian campus and reassigned 68.4 MW of power to U.S. cloud provider Zenplayer. The move follows a U.S. investigation into Megaspeed’s alleged smuggling...
Anthropic Secures Multi-Gigawatt TPU Deal With Google, Broadcom
Anthropic has signed a multi‑gigawatt agreement with Google and Broadcom to secure next‑generation TPU capacity, with roughly 3.5 GW slated for deployment beginning in 2027. The deal expands Anthropic’s previously announced $50 billion domestic compute investment and reflects a shift toward utility‑style...
VDURA Says 30 TB QLC SSD Capacity Now Costs 22.6x More than HDD
VDURA’s Flash Volatility Index shows that by Q1 2026 a 30 TB QLC SSD costs 22.6 times more than a comparable 30 TB HDD, up from 4.9× a year earlier. Prices for 30 TB QLC SSDs surged from $2,450 to $15,121, a 517% increase, while...
Alibaba Launches Data Center with 10,000 of Its Own Chips as China Ramps up AI Push
Alibaba and China Telecom have launched a new AI‑focused data center in Guangdong, powered by 10,000 of Alibaba’s in‑house Zhenwu semiconductors. The facility, owned and operated by China Telecom, is designed for training and inference of massive AI models and...
Nexperia China Shifts to Local Wafer Supply, Targets Full Localization by 2026
Nexperia’s China unit is transitioning to fully domestic wafer sourcing, ending reliance on its Dutch operations. The move follows European wafer export restrictions introduced in October and aims for complete localization by the second half of 2026. Production currently runs...
SiMa.ai Secures Strategic Investment From Micron to Scale High-Performance, Power-Efficient Physical AI
SiMa.ai announced a strategic investment from Micron Technology to accelerate its high‑performance, power‑efficient Physical AI solutions. The deal deepens collaboration on tightly integrated compute‑memory architectures, embedding Micron’s LPDDR5X memory into SiMa.ai’s Modalix MLSoC platform. Customers can now purchase SiMa.ai system‑on‑modules...
Samsung Raises DRAM Prices by About 30% for Q2 Across All Segments
Samsung Electronics announced a roughly 30% price increase for all DRAM products in the second quarter, following a dramatic price surge in Q1 that doubled average rates. The cumulative effect pushes DRAM prices to about 2.6 times the levels seen...
EDA And IP Numbers Up Again, But Numbers Are More Nuanced
Electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP revenue rose 10.3% in Q4 2025, reaching $5.466 billion versus $4.955 billion a year earlier. The CAE segment led the growth, up 9.4% to $2.083 billion, while non‑reporting IP firms—dominated by Arm—jumped 24.7% to $1.413 billion. Reporting...
Why Google’s TurboQuant Algorithm Is Disrupting the AI Memory Chip Market
Google’s TurboQuant algorithm compresses large language models by up to six times and accelerates processing as much as eightfold, delivering the same accuracy with far less memory. The technology combines PolarQuant and a Quantized Johnson‑Lindenstrauss routine to cut inference costs...
Samsung Fabs Memory Gold
Samsung Electronics reported a preliminary first‑quarter 2026 operating profit that surged 755% year‑on‑year, driven by soaring high‑bandwidth memory (HBM) prices. Revenue jumped 68% to ₩133 trillion (about $88.5 billion), while operating profit reached ₩51 trillion (roughly $37.9 billion). The profit outstrips Micron’s total quarterly...
Intel, SambaNova Bet on Split Inference as Agentic AI Strains GPUs
Intel and SambaNova announced a heterogeneous inference architecture designed for agentic AI workloads, dividing tasks among GPUs for prompt prefill, SambaNova’s reconfigurable dataflow units (RDUs) for token decode, and Intel Xeon 6 CPUs for orchestration. The three‑tier model aims to alleviate...
Google Makes It Easier for PyTorch Users to Switch to Its Own AI Chips
Google officially unveiled TorchTPU, a native PyTorch backend for its Tensor Processing Units, aiming to simplify migration from NVIDIA's CUDA ecosystem. Engineering lead Lee Howes highlighted the mature compiler stack and production‑grade reliability of TPUs as key advantages. The initiative...
Taiwanese Chip Makers Call on Government to Stockpile Helium, Liquid Natural Gas — TSIA Pleads for Strategic Supplies as US...
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA), is urging the government to create strategic stockpiles of helium and liquefied natural gas (LNG) after a U.S.-Iran cease‑fire highlighted supply chain fragility. The island currently has only about...
Mobilint, Lotte Innovate to Pilot NPU Deployment in Industrial Sites
Mobilint and Lotte Innovate have signed a memorandum of understanding to pilot neural processing unit (NPU) deployments across Lotte Group’s manufacturing and distribution sites. The collaboration will focus on on‑device and edge AI applications, including humanoid robots that leverage vision‑language‑action...
AMD Embedded+ Platform Used to Develop AI Security System
AMD announced that its Embedded+ platform, which fuses a Ryzen embedded processor with a Versal adaptive SoC, was used by Fujisoft to build an AI‑powered industrial security system. The solution runs on a single board, leveraging the CPU for high‑performance...
Asia Daily: April 8, 2026
Chinese researchers at Xidian University have developed a method to fabricate short‑wave infrared (SWIR) chips using standard silicon‑germanium CMOS processes, slashing production costs by up to 99% to roughly $10 per unit. The low‑cost chips retain military‑grade performance, opening civilian...
Intel's New Orbit: From Chip Lag to Leading Edge
Intel announced a $25 billion Terafab alliance that places the company at the core of chip production for Tesla, SpaceX and xAI, marking a decisive validation of its foundry strategy. The news sent Intel shares up about 4% on heavy volume,...
Intel Releases OpenVINO 2026.1 With Backend For Llama.cpp, New Hardware Support
Intel unveiled OpenVINO 2026.1, its latest quarterly update that expands generative AI capabilities across Intel’s hardware portfolio. The release adds official support for Wildcat Lake SoCs and the new Intel Arc Pro B70 32 GB GPU, while introducing Qwen3 VL on both CPU and...
Elon Musk’s $16.5B Deal Rescues Samsung From Chip War
Samsung was getting crushed by TSMC in the chip war. - $3.6B in losses - 7% market share vs TSMC's 67% - About to be overtaken by China's SMIC But Elon Musk just changed everything with one $16.5 BILLION deal... Leaving Big Tech in shock. Here's...
Samsung Predicts Profit Surge From AI-Driven Memory Price Boom
MyPOV: @Samsung forecasts insane operating profit growth thanks to surging memory prices https://t.co/TtaW3vxXCN @SiliconANGLE @Mike_Wheatley “Nobody could have foreseen the ferocity of AI’s memory appetite, but it’s still a great advertisement for…” - @holgermu @constellationr
Intel Shares Surge 3% After Joining Elon Musk's Terafab AI Chip Venture
Intel announced it will partner with Elon Musk’s Terafab AI chip complex, teaming up with SpaceX, Tesla and xAI to build ultra‑high‑performance processors. The news sent Intel’s shares up almost 3% and marks a high‑profile bet on domestic AI hardware...
Export Controls Separate H200 From Vera Rubin Supply Chains
Export Controls: National Security Tool or Industrial Policy Lever? H200 exports do not pose a meaningfully trade off against newer Vera Rubin due to distinct supply chains. Yes, have been saying this for some time, fully debunks this TP.... https://t.co/WJlqCYF9zG
Obsolete Xilinx IC Chips: Sourcing & Replacement Solutions
Companies needing discontinued Xilinx FPGA chips can now source them via a dedicated platform that matches requests with verified global suppliers within 24‑48 hours. The service also offers replacement options, including newer AMD‑Xilinx families, alternative vendors, or ASIC redesigns. Obsolete...
EOL Semiconductor Components: Sourcing & Replacement Solutions
End‑of‑life (EOL) semiconductor components are no longer manufactured, creating sourcing challenges and supply‑chain risk. Companies can address the gap by buying remaining inventory, executing a last‑time buy, or redesigning with newer parts. AnySilicon’s platform connects buyers with a global network...
Obsolete Semiconductors: Sourcing, Replacement & Supply Solutions
Obsolete semiconductors are components no longer produced or supported, creating scarcity and price pressure for legacy products. Companies face production delays, counterfeit risk, and costly redesigns when critical ICs disappear. The article outlines three mitigation paths—sourcing existing stock, finding pin‑compatible...
Europe at a Turning Point for PCB Base Materials
Europe’s PCB base‑material market has narrowed to a single supplier, Isola GmbH, and one copper‑foil producer, CircuitFoil, after the loss of woven electronic‑glass manufacturers. OEMs in space, aerospace and defence are now prioritising supply‑chain security and reliability over cost, shifting...
Samsung Electro-Mechanics Supplies Glass Substrate Samples to Apple
Samsung Electro-Mechanics has begun supplying glass substrate samples to Apple, expanding beyond its earlier collaboration with Broadcom. The glass core replaces organic material in flip‑chip BGA substrates, offering superior flatness and lower thermal expansion, which is critical as AI chips...
Genesem Secures Orders From Three Major Indian Semiconductor Packaging Customers
Genesem has secured three major Indian semiconductor packaging contracts, including a 5 billion‑won (~$3.8 million) order from company C and a 15 billion‑won (~$11.3 million) order from company K. The company projects Indian revenue of 20‑25 billion won (~$15‑$19 million) this year, roughly a quarter of...
Imec Receives World’s Most Advanced High NA EUV System
imec has installed ASML’s EXE:5200 High NA EUV lithography system, the most advanced tool of its kind, in its 300 mm cleanroom in Leuven. The machine enables research into sub‑2 nm logic and high‑density memory, positioning imec as a European hub for...
DTI Ramps up $110-B Semiconductor Export Plan
The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry unveiled a five‑year roadmap to lift semiconductor and electronics exports to $110 billion by 2030, more than twice today’s level. The plan targets $70 billion in semiconductor sales and $40 billion in broader electronics shipments, backed...
Blog Review: Apr. 8
The April 8 blog roundup from Semiconductor Engineering spotlights a wave of technical breakthroughs across the semiconductor ecosystem. Cadence unveils LPDDR6 with built‑in metadata, row‑hammer mitigation and three‑rail DVFS, while Synopsys and Siemens champion multiphysics and simulation‑driven digital twins for automotive...
China’s Shenzhen Activates Huawei-Powered AI Cluster
Shenzhen has activated a new supercomputing cluster built with 10,000 Huawei Ascend 910C AI accelerator cards, delivering 11,000 petaflops of performance. Combined with a 3,000‑petaflop system launched in 2025, the facility now offers 14,000 petaflops, and 92 % of its capacity...
Planet Labs Tests AI-Powered Object Detection On Satellite
Planet Labs successfully demonstrated artificial intelligence running directly on a satellite in orbit, using an NVIDIA Jetson Orin module to detect airplanes in an image of an airport captured at 500 km altitude. The onboard model processed the photo moments after...
ASUS Skips New Boards for Arrow Lake Refresh, Focuses on Next-Gen
ASUS confirmed it will not release new motherboards for Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 200S Plus refresh, opting to rely on the existing Intel 800 series boards built on the FCLGA1851 socket. The refresh offers only incremental performance gains, so manufacturers see little incentive...
Intel Serpent Lake Processors to Integrate NVIDIA RTX GPUs in 2028
Intel is planning a new processor family codenamed Serpent Lake, slated for a 2028 launch, that will integrate NVIDIA RTX graphics directly into the CPU package. The chips will combine Copper Shark performance cores with Golden Eagle efficiency cores, continuing...
Asian Tech Stocks Surge as U.S.-Iran Cease Fire Ease Hormuz Disruption Worries
Asian technology and semiconductor stocks rallied sharply after the United States and Iran agreed to a conditional two‑week cease‑fire that reopened the Strait of Hormuz. The de‑escalation eased fears over helium shortages, a critical input for chip manufacturing, prompting double‑digit...
Broadcom's Stock Jumps 6% After Chipmaker Expands Google, Anthropic Deals
Broadcom's stock jumped more than 6% on Tuesday, its second‑best trading day of the year. The rally followed announcements that the chipmaker will produce next‑generation AI chips for Google and has expanded its agreement with Anthropic, granting the startup access...
RIBER Delivers Strong Earnings Growth in 2025
RIBER reported 2025 results with revenue of €40.3 million (≈ $44.3 million), a 2 % decline year‑on‑year, while net income surged 27 % to €5.2 million (≈ $5.7 million). Gross margin rose to €15.6 million (≈ $17.2 million), reflecting a stronger product mix and pricing power. The company highlighted the commercial...
First Quantum Diamond Microscopy System Lands in US for Advanced Chip Failure Analysis
QuantumDiamonds GmbH has installed its QD m.1 quantum‑diamond microscopy system at Eurofins EAG Laboratories in Sunnyvale, marking the first North‑American deployment of a commercial QDM tool. The QD m.1 uses nitrogen‑vacancy centers in synthetic diamond to produce three‑dimensional, micrometer‑scale magnetic current maps of...
AMD Medusa Point Leaked: 10 Cores, 32 MB L3 Cache, and First Geekbench Results for a Zen 6 APU
AMD’s engineering sample of the rumored Medusa Point APU surfaced on Geekbench, revealing a 10‑core, 20‑thread Zen 6 design with 32 MB of L3 cache. The sample runs at a 2.40 GHz base clock and peaked near 2.01 GHz, scoring 1,210 single‑core and 7,323...
Broadcom Secures Google’s Commitment Through 2031, and Anthropic Invests in the Next Generation of TPUs
Broadcom announced a multi‑year agreement with Google to develop and supply future generations of custom Tensor Processing Units and the networking components for AI racks through 2031. In parallel, Anthropic secured access to roughly 3.5 GW of Google‑based TPU capacity starting...
Microchip Hybrid MCU Targeted at Automotive, E-Mobility HMI Applications
Microchip Technology introduced the SAM9X75D5M, an AEC‑Q100 Grade 2‑qualified System‑in‑Package that combines an Arm926EJ‑S processor with 512 Mbit DDR2 SDRAM. The hybrid MCU targets automotive and e‑mobility human‑machine interfaces, supporting up to 10‑inch XGA displays via MIPI DSI, LVDS or parallel RGB....
Onvo L90 to Adopt Nio's In-House Developed Shenji Smart Driving Chip, Report Says
Nio’s sub‑brand Onvo will launch the 2026 L90 electric SUV on April 21, featuring the company’s in‑house Shenji smart‑driving chip for the first time. The chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process, delivers up to 1,000 TOPS and is said to match the...
Park Systems Cements Leadership in Nanometrology with New Global HQ
Park Systems Corp. has inaugurated a 27,000 m² global headquarters in Gwacheon, South Korea, featuring a 35‑system industrial cleanroom for semiconductor and advanced‑packaging metrology. The campus houses research and demonstration labs that let customers conduct live measurements on AFM, spectroscopic ellipsometry,...
G50 Corp Validates Golconda Gallium Metallurgy as Potential US Critical Mineral Supply Source
G50 Corp announced that metallurgical testing on its Golconda project in Arizona successfully concentrated gallium up to 70% and silver up to 97% using low‑cost screening and flotation methods. The same processes yielded a gold‑silver concentrate grading as high as...
Inside Taiwan’s Semiconductor Supremacy
Taiwan now supplies about 92% of the world’s most advanced logic chips (5 nm and below), cementing its role as the linchpin of the global tech supply chain. TSMC, the island’s pure‑play foundry, posted a 62.3% gross margin in Q4 2025 and...
Google Pixel Watch 5 Leaks Hint at Tensor Chip, Sapphire Glass, and 4,000‑Nit Display
Insider reports indicate Google may launch the Pixel Watch 5 later this year with an in‑house Tensor processor, a sapphire crystal front and a display brightness boost to 4,000 nits. The smartwatch is expected to retain a $349 starting price...