The SIA News Roundup is sent out each Friday compiling relevant clips from the week. You can sign up to receive the SIA News Roundup here.
The SIA News Roundup is sent out each Friday compiling relevant clips from the week. You can sign up to receive the SIA News Roundup here.
SIA NEWS
Press Release “Lip-Bu Tan is a true technology visionary and a pioneer in venture capital,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Lip-Bu’s many career accomplishments have greatly strengthened the global semiconductor ecosystem and helped advance companies that drive innovation and growth around the world. We’re pleased to recognize Lip-Bu with the 2022 Robert N. Noyce Award for his many contributions to the semiconductor sector and beyond.”
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 13.3% in Q2 2022 Compared to Q2 2021 Press Release “Global semiconductor sales were robust during the second quarter of 2022, increasing across all major regional markets and product categories compared to the second quarter of last year,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Market growth has slowed somewhat in recent months, however, with year-to-year growth in June dipping below 15% for the first time since February 2021. Sales into the Americas continued to lead all regional markets in June, increasing by 29.0% year-to-year.” |
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INDUSTRY/MARKET
Chip billions won’t be a quick fix AXIOS Other countries have incentivized semiconductor manufacturing in a way the U.S. has not, and “and as a result, we have slipped dramatically,” John Neuffer, CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, told Axios.
The CHIPS Act won’t solve the chip shortage Vox “This is a very, very good first step,” John Neuffer, the CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, told Recode. “But as long as the rest of the world has the subsidy programs in place, we need some kind of incentives to get close to what those subsidies are.”
$52B semiconductor package is a ‘big freakin’ deal for Michigan’ MLive Semiconductors were invented in the United States. The nation remains a leader in innovation and has nearly half of the global market share for semiconductors. However, only 12% of the assembly happens in America, according to the 2021 Semiconductor Industry Association report.
Biden touts chip funding at virtual appearance at Hemlock Semiconductor The Detroit News The Semiconductor Industry Association estimates it costs 30% more to build a chip fab in the U.S. than in Taiwan, South Korea or Singapore and up to 50% more than in China.
Global semiconductor sales increase 13.3% in Q2 2022 Evertiq “Global semiconductor sales were robust during the second quarter of 2022, increasing across all major regional markets and product categories compared to the second quarter of last year,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO, in a press release. “Market growth has slowed somewhat in recent months, however, with year-to-year growth in June dipping below 15% for the first time since February 2021. Sales into the Americas continued to lead all regional markets in June, increasing by 29.0% year-to-year.”
Biden to sign bill to boost chipmakers, compete with China Aug. 9 -White House Reuters President Joe Biden next Tuesday will sign a bill to subsidize the U.S. semiconductor industry and boost efforts to make the United States more competitive with China, the White House said on Wednesday.
Pelosi dined with Taiwan computer chip executives during her brief visit The Washington Post TSMC is the world’s biggest chip manufacturer and a vital supplier to the United States and other Western nations. It is by far the largest of Taiwan’s chipmakers, which together produce more than 90 percent of the world’s highest-tech chips, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Semiconductor giants call for immigration law restructuring The Hill Semiconductor giants are pushing for immigration reform that would allow more highly skilled workers to remain in the U.S. after Congress passed a bill to strengthen domestic chip manufacturing. |
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CHINA
South China Morning Post China’s top memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) is facing fresh pressure amid reports that the US is considering limiting equipment exports to memory chip makers on the mainland.
China’s memory upstart YMTC edges closer to rivals with 232-layer chip Reuters The company unveiled its fourth-generation 3D NAND chip, the X3-9070, and its first to feature 232 layers of memory cells, government-backed media outlet Global Times reported on Wednesday. |
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TRADE
U.S., Japan to cooperate on semiconductors as part of new economic dialogue Reuters The United States and Japan launched a new high-level economic dialogue on Friday aimed at pushing back against China and countering the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY
Phys.org Tiny crystals, known as quantum dots, have enabled an international team to achieve a quantum efficiency exceeding 100 percent in the photocurrent generated in a hybrid inorganic-organic semiconductor.
New chip-based beam steering device lays groundwork for smaller, cheaper lidar Science Daily Researchers have developed a new chip-based beam steering technology that provides a promising route to small, cost-effective and high-performance lidar systems.
How human ‘organs on a chip’ can help replace animal testing Fast Company Biotech firm Emulate is one of the companies pioneering this technology. On one version of its tiny “organ on a chip,” roughly the size of a flash drive, human lung cells line two parallel channels carved into a flexible plastic. |
SIA NEWS
SIA Applauds House Passage of CHIPS Act, Urges President to Sign Bill into Law Press Release By passing the CHIPS Act, Congress has risen to a defining challenge of our time, seized an historic opportunity to fortify American semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, and delivered a big win for our country. The bill’s investments in chip production and innovation will strengthen America’s economy and national security – both of which rely heavily on chips – and reinforce our country’s semiconductor supply chains.
SIA Commends Senate Passage of CHIPS Act, Urges House Approval Press Release Senate passage of the CHIPS Act marks decisive progress toward strengthening America’s economy, national security, and leadership in the key technologies of today and tomorrow. We greatly appreciate the bill’s Senate champions for advancing it, commend today’s strong bipartisan vote, and urge the House of Representatives to swiftly follow suit and send the CHIPS Act to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The stakes are high, and the time to act is now.
SIA Applauds Senate’s Procedural Vote to Advance CHIPS Act, Urges Final Passage Press Release Today’s bipartisan vote is a vital step toward enactment of legislation that will strengthen American chip production and innovation, economic growth and job creation, and national security. We thank the bipartisan group of congressional champions for their leadership in advancing the CHIPS Act, applaud today’s Senate vote, and urge swift final passage in both the Senate and House. America has an historic opportunity to re-invigorate domestic chip manufacturing, design, and research, and Congress should seize it before it’s too late. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKET
Pass the CHIPS Act to seize America’s big semiconductor opportunity The Hill – Opinion Piece by John Neuffer The stakes could hardly be higher, and the time to act is now. Congress this week will vote on legislation called the CHIPS Act that would re-invigorate U.S. chip production and innovation, while also strengthening America’s economy, national security, and leadership in key technologies. Congress needs to approve it this week.
How Congress Can Save U.S. Semiconductor Production And Innovation California Business Journal – Opinion Piece by John Neuffer Without action from Congress, though, the U.S. semiconductor sector will be diminished as chip companies open new manufacturing facilities, known as fabs, in countries that provide considerably more incentives to semiconductor businesses than the U.S. does.
WSJ – Opinion Piece by John Neuffer Other governments encourage chip manufacturing, making it up to 50% more expensive to build and operate a chip manufacturing facility, or fab, in the U.S. than overseas. Opposition to “subsidies” impairs the editorial board’s ability to identify the problem: Without government incentives to level the playing field, not enough new fabs will be built in the U.S. That’s bad for businesses, workers and critical infrastructure and defense systems.
Chipmakers got their $52 billion. It will now take years for American chipmaking to flourish. Protocol “By passing the CHIPS Act, Congress has risen to a defining challenge of our time, seized an historic opportunity to fortify American semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, and delivered a big win for our country,” Semiconductor Industry Association President and CEO John Neuffer said in a statement.
CHIPS Act passage to re-energize US chip-making Asia Times John Neuffer, president and CEO of the US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), stated that: “By passing the CHIPS Act, Congress has risen to a defining challenge of our time, seized an historic opportunity to fortify American semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, and delivered a big win for our country. The bill’s investments in chip production and innovation will strengthen America’s economy and national security – both of which rely heavily on chips – and reinforce our country’s semiconductor supply chains.”
Industry Week Semiconductor Industry Association CEO John Neuffer, in a statement, commended the Senate for its “decisive progress towards strengthening America’s economy, national security, and leadership in the key technologies of today and tomorrow” before urging the House to send the bill to the President’s desk quickly.
CHIPS Act moves to House for passage Electronics 360 “Senate passage of the CHIPS Act marks decisive progress toward strengthening America’s economy, national security and leadership in the key technologies of today and tomorrow,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). “We greatly appreciate the bill’s Senate champions for advancing it, commend today’s strong bipartisan vote, and urge the House of Representatives to swiftly follow suit and send the CHIPS Act to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The stakes are high, and the time to act is now.”
Senate approves CHIPS Act, as funding windfall inches closer Fierce Electronics The Semiconductor Industry Association was equally effusive, saying in its official statement that the funds resulting from the Act will help rectify a situation that finds U.S. sites accounting for only about 12% of the world’s chip manufacturing capacity today. “Senate passage of the CHIPS Act marks decisive progress toward strengthening America’s economy, national security, and leadership in the key technologies of today and tomorrow,” the statement read. “We greatly appreciate the bill’s Senate champions for advancing it, commend today’s strong bipartisan vote, and urge the House of Representatives to swiftly follow suit and send the CHIPS Act to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The stakes are high, and the time to act is now.”
Politico “This higher number includes the amounts called for in the bill’s aspirational research section, called an “authorization.” Authorizations are not spending. Congressional appropriators will decide in the years to come whether to actually fund the authorizations in the CHIPS-Plus bill. This bill does not fund them,” said David Isaacs, Semiconductor Industry Association vice president.
Senate passes CHIPS Act to subsidize domestic semiconductor production Tech Crunch Semiconductor Industry Association President and CEO John Neuffer echoed the sentiment in a statement provided to TechCrunch, noting, “Senate passage of the CHIPS Act marks decisive progress toward strengthening America’s economy, national security, and leadership in the key technologies of today and tomorrow. We greatly appreciate the bill’s Senate champions for advancing it, commend today’s strong bipartisan vote, and urge the House of Representatives to swiftly follow suit and send the CHIPS Act to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The stakes are high, and the time to act is now.”
U.S. Senate advances chip funding bill to encourage local semiconductor manufacturing Tech Crunch The Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group representing chipmakers, with members like AMD, ARM, Intel, and Broadcom, welcomed the Senate’s vote. “Today’s bipartisan vote is a vital step toward enactment of legislation that will strengthen American chip production and innovation, economic growth and job creation, and national security. We thank the bipartisan group of congressional champions for their leadership in advancing the CHIPS Act, applaud today’s Senate vote, and urge swift final passage in both the Senate and House. America has a historic opportunity to re-invigorate domestic chip manufacturing, design, and research, and Congress should seize it before it’s too late,” it said in a statement.
CHIPS backers descend on Washington Politico Chipmakers themselves have sought to push back on critics too. In a blog post Friday, one of the semiconductor industry’s biggest trade groups swatted back at critics conflating the package’s total direct spending and authorizations for its science funding components. The bill’s $52 billion in subsidies and $24 billion in industry tax incentives, the Semiconductor Industry Association’s David Isaacs wrote, is “badly needed” by the industry but “will return huge benefits to American businesses, workers, and consumers.”
The Hill The Semiconductor Industry Association hired Stewart Barber and Molly O’Leary as directors of government affairs. Barber previously served as director of international initiatives and outreach in the Trump White House. O’Leary previously served as policy adviser to Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.).
CHIPS Act clears Congress, ensuring $52 billion boost to US foundries The Verge In a 243-187 vote on Thursday, the House passed the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen US science and technology innovation. The bill, a Biden administration priority, includes $52 billion in subsidies to encourage chip manufacturers to build out semiconductor fabrications plants, or “fabs,” in the US. |
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CHINAChina says U.S. chip act will distort global semiconductor supply chain Reuters China’s commerce ministry said on Friday that a major new chips act passed by the U.S. Congress will distort the global semiconductor supply chain and disrupt international trade.
Fortune U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is reportedly scheduling a trip to Taiwan in August, paying visit to the world’s leading producer of semiconductors and the most important supplier of chips to the U.S. The self-governing island produces 92% of the world’s most advanced chips, including the chipsets that power iPhones and most other U.S. tech.
Protocol China has long lagged the U.S., Taiwan and South Korea in the development of advanced chip manufacturing technology, despite having committed hundreds of billions of dollars to eliminate the gap. |
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TRADEU.S. and Japan launch economic dialogue to push back against China, Russia Reuters Long-time allies the United States and Japan launched a new high-level economic dialogue on Friday aimed at pushing back against China and countering the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. to host first IPEF ministerial meeting Politico U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will co-host the event, which is the first ministerial level meeting since President Joe Biden formally launched the initiative during a visit to Tokyo in May. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYThe structure of the smallest semiconductor was elucidated Science Daily A semiconductor is a material whose conductivity lies somewhere between that of a conductor and an insulator. This property allows semiconductors to serve as the base material for modern electronics and transistors.
SPIM-WGs: High performance waveguide devices for next generation photonic chips Phys.Org One of the most important elements in photonic chips or quantum chips is the optical waveguide. However, due to limitations in existing fabrication methods, it is tricky to efficiently produce waveguides with high precision control of the 3D cross-section shape and size. |
SIA NEWS
SIA Applauds Senate Advancing CHIPS Act Press Release The Senate CHIPS Act would greatly strengthen America’s economy, national security, and leadership in the technologies that will determine our future. The bill would spur hundreds of billions of dollars in private semiconductor investments in America, create hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs, and help ensure our country has the chips it needs for critical defense applications and sectors of the economy.
Stewart Barber, Molly O’Leary Join SIA Government Affairs Team Press Release “The policy decisions being made in the U.S. and around the world will have a massive impact on the future of the semiconductor industry, a sector that is central to America’s economy, national security, and global technology leadership,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “With extensive experience advancing government policies that promote growth and innovation, Stewart and Molly will be ideal advocates for the semiconductor industry in Washington. We are pleased to welcome them to the SIA team and look forward to their contributions in support of our industry’s priorities.” |
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INDUSTRY/MARKET
Why Congress must help Kentucky manufacturers overcome chip shortage: Opinion Courier Journal – Op Ed by John Neuffer Global demand for semiconductors is high and will only continue to skyrocket. It’s no longer a question of whether chip manufacturers will need to build new fabs to meet demand, but a concern of where these plants will be located. Strengthening the domestic semiconductor environment will make the cost of doing business here more comparable to other countries and establish the U.S. a top destination for innovation.
Tech Bill Aims to Block U.S. Aid for Companies That Build Advanced Chips in China WSJ In a statement, SIA President and CEO John Neuffer said the group is “encouraged the legislation is progressing and look forward to swift enactment of investments that strengthen domestic chip manufacturing, design and research.”
CHIPS Act passes U.S. Senate in 64-34 preliminary vote Fierce Electronics Major semiconductor associations including the Semiconductor Industry Association and SEMI praised the preliminary vote. “The bill would spur hundreds of billions of dollars in private semiconductor investments in America, create hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs and ensure our country has the chips it needs for critical defense applications and sectors of the economy,” said SIA CEO John Neuffer in a statement.
CHIPS bill gets praise — and a ding Fierce Electronics The Semiconductor Industry Association hailed the preliminary vote and joined several government affairs executives from major chip companies in a virtual panel conducted by CQ Roll Call on Thursday. They included representatives from Intel, Samsung, TSMC, Micron and Global Foundries. All the executives urged final passage of the measure to ensure U.S. competitiveness in chip manufacturing and R&D, noting the U.S. share of all chips produced globally has fallen to 12% from 37% in 1990.
Politico The Semiconductor Industry Association has added Stewart Barber and Molly O’Leary as directors of government affairs, working with Congress, the White House and federal agencies to advance the industry’s priorities. Barber was most recently senior vice president of government affairs at Corley Consulting, and O’Leary previously served as director of government affairs at NTCA — The Rural Broadband Association.
Biden Wants Chipmakers Getting US Aid to Curb China Investments Bloomberg The China investment restrictions are still under negotiation and are a target of heavy lobbying by the semiconductor industry. Intel Corp. and the industry’s main trade association, the Semiconductor Industry Association, have been lobbying against the restrictions as currently written, Politico reported earlier Monday.
Key Senate votes expected next week on bill to boost US semiconductor production CNN The Senate is on track to move to final passage as soon as next week on a long-awaited bill aimed at boosting US semiconductor production in a bid to increase American competitiveness.
Fortune Semiconductors are essential to every scrap of modern technology powering society today, including cars, smartphones, and even missiles. Yet the chip industry is dominated by manufacturers in the small island of Taiwan, where a handful of firms churn out roughly 90% of the world’s most advanced chips. Policy makers in the U.S. have started to see that as a problem. |
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CHINAHow China became ground zero for the auto chip shortage Reuters From his small office in Singapore, Kelvin Pang is ready to wager a $23 million payday that the worst of the chip shortage is not over for automakers – at least in China. Pang has bought 62,000 microcontrollers, chips that help control a range of functions from car engines and transmissions to electric vehicle power systems and charging, which cost the original buyer $23.80 each in Germany.
TikTok owner ByteDance explores self-designed chips as China aims for semiconductor self-sufficiency CNBC TikTok owner ByteDance is looking into designing its own chips, joining a slew of Chinese internet giants focused on semiconductors as Beijing tries to become more self-sufficient in the critical technology.
Despite Didi’s $1.2 bln fine, China tech’s regulatory woes may not be over Reuters China’s $1.2 billion fine on Didi Global draws a line under the ride hailing company’s regulatory woes, but the retroactive application of laws and a lack of clarity on the firm’s business revival show the worst for its tech sector may not be over. |
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TRADEYellen says the U.S. and its allies should use ‘friend-shoring’ to give supply chains a boost CNBC U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has reiterated the need for the United States and its trusted trading partners to boost supply chain resilience through “friend-shoring,” but said this does not mean the U.S. is retreating from the rest of world.
‘Unprecedented urgency’ may have pushed India and the EU to revive trade talks after 9 years CNBC In a stunning turnaround, India and the European Union recently revived negotiations for a free trade agreement after talks halted nearly a decade ago — and observers say it could have been driven by “unprecedented urgency.”
Britain Launches Free Trade Talks With Israel Reuters Britain on Wednesday launched free trade talks with Israel, aimed at boosting service and tech sector ties as it seeks new trade deals after leaving the European Union. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYResearchers explore a hydrodynamic semiconductor where electrons flow like water Phys.Org You don’t normally want to mix electricity and water, but electricity behaving like water has the potential to improve electronic devices. Recent work from the groups of engineer James Hone at Columbia and theoretical physicist Shaffique Adam at the National University of Singapore and Yale-NUS builds new understanding of this unusual hydrodynamic behavior that changes some old assumptions about the physics of metals.
Flexible Polymer Paves Way for Organic Semiconductors Design News Researchers have been seeking new organic materials for electronic components to drive down the costs and the environmental impact of manufacturing current devices as well as to meet particular advanced performance needs. Conventional metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors are one of the devices that has reached a material impasse of sorts, with silicon—the current material of choice—facing limits in terms of the current need for simultaneous reduction in size and increased performance. |
SIA NEWS
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 18.0% Year-to-Year, 1.8% Month-to-Month in May Press Release “Global demand for semiconductors remained high in May, with year-to-year sales increasing strongly across all major regional markets and product categories,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Continuing high demand for semiconductors will necessitate more chip research, design, and manufacturing in the years ahead. We urge leaders in Washington to swiftly enact bipartisan innovation and competitiveness legislation that ensures a large share of this chip production and innovation occurs on U.S. soil. The clock is ticking.” |
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INDUSTRY/MARKET
Chip giants threaten to scale back U.S. expansion without subsidies Nikkei Asia “The CHIPS Act does have strong bipartisan support, as well as the backing of state and local leaders, business leaders, national security experts and two-thirds of American voters,” said John Neuffer, CEO of Semiconductor Industry Association, a U.S. trade association.
‘US semiconductor industry cannot wait’ The Columbus Dispatch – LTE by John Neuffer The June 25 article, “Intel pushes Congress to pass $52B in aid,” is much more than symbolic, as this article identifies it, and instead represents the real loss semiconductor companies face when manufacturing in the U.S. without federal incentives.
The latest: Commerce secretary says McConnell threat is ‘bump in the road’ The Washington Post The House and Senate are working to reconcile different versions of the bill that would invest $52 billion to expand microchip manufacturing and its supply chain to the United States. The country hosts 12 percent of manufacturing, down from 37 percent in 1990, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association — with China, Taiwan, Japan and the European Union making up much of the difference.
Electronics Weekly “Global demand for semiconductors remained high in May, with year-to-year sales increasing strongly across all major regional markets and product categories,” says SIA CEO John Neuffer, “continuing high demand for semiconductors will necessitate more chip research, design, and manufacturing in the years ahead. We urge leaders in Washington to swiftly enact bipartisan innovation and competitiveness legislation that ensures a large share of this chip production and innovation occurs on U.S. soil. The clock is ticking.”
Global Semiconductor Sales Up 18% YoY in May EE Times Asia Global semiconductor industry sales reached $51.8 billion in the month of May 2022, an increase of 18% over the May 2021 total of $43.9 billion and 1.8% more than the April 2022 total of $50.9 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
Semiconductor Funding Bill Is Likely to Survive McConnell Threat Bloomberg A $52 billion package of incentives and subsidies to bolster US semiconductor manufacturing is far from dead, despite Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s threat to scuttle the legislation containing it in order to stall passage of President Joe Biden’s economic plan. |
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CHINAU.S. mulls fresh bid to restrict chipmaking tools for China’s SMIC Reuters The Biden administration is considering new targeted restrictions on shipments of chipmaking tools to China, seeking to hamstring advances by China’s largest chipmaker, SMIC (0981.HK), without slowing the flow of chips into the global economy, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
U.S. Aims to Expand Export Bans on China Over Security and Human Rights NYT When Russian forces invaded Ukraine nearly five months ago, the Biden administration led dozens of governments in banning the export of advanced technology to Russia to hobble its economic and military development.
China takes wider aim at foreign tech with national standards plan Nikkei Asia Proposed Chinese national technology standards signal a broader push to restrict foreign manufacturers, presenting them with a potential choice between divulging vital design details or abandoning a vast market. |
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TRADEBiden says U.S.-U.K. ties ‘strong,’ does not mention Johnson Reuters U.S. President Joe Biden looks forward to further close cooperation with the British government, he said on Thursday without mentioning Prime Minister Boris Johnson who resigned in the face of scandal.
China Diplomatic Blitz Counters US as Blinken Visits Asia Bloomberg As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken takes part in Group of 20 meetings on his first visit to Asia in more than six months, his Chinese counterpart is halfway through a two-week diplomatic blitz across the key strategic battleground.
US trade move viewed as wedge ploy in Asia China Daily The so-called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework initiated by the United States but excluding China presents as an instrument at odds with the trend of regional economic integration, say experts who point to China’s vital role in trade and development. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYSpintronics: Giant Rashba semiconductors show unconventional dynamics with potential applications Phys.Org Germanium telluride is a strong candidate for use in functional spintronic devices due to its giant Rashba-effect. Now, scientists at HZB have discovered another intriguing phenomenon in GeTe by studying the electronic response to thermal excitation of the samples.
Using lattice distortions to improve carrier mobility in 2D semiconductors TechXplore Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are semiconducting materials with thicknesses on the atomic scale, which have exceptional electronic properties. In the future, these materials could have the potential to replace silicon in the development of numerous electronic and optoelectronic devices. |
INDUSTRY/MARKET
McConnell threatens semiconductor bill, prompting White House rebuke The Hill A partisan fight erupted over bipartisan legislation aimed at boosting the domestic semiconductor industry on Thursday, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) threatened Republican support for the bill if Democrats move forward with a separate reconciliation package.
Scoop: Schumer’s CHIPS Act gambit Axios Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) summoned a dozen Senate Democrats to his office last week with firm marching orders: Call your closest CEOs and ask them to press Republican senators on the China competition bill.
Chip makers warn Congress’ delay could threaten U.S. expansion Axios It’s expensive to build semiconductors — a vital input for wide swaths of the economy — and other countries have already outpaced the U.S. in incentivizing manufacturing on their shores.
The Chip Shortage Was Supposed to Be a ‘Sputnik Moment.’ What Happened? Bloomberg The US promised chipmakers about $52 billion to boost the industry inside the country. Now, it looks like that money might not arrive—a development that’s already threatening to upend manufacturing plans.
Tata Motors and Renesas join hands to build semiconductor solutions for India, emerging markets CNBC Japan-based Renesas Electronics Corporation will help Tata Motors accelerate the development of electric and connected vehicles. The tie-up will also help Tejas Networks, another Tata Group firm, develop semiconductor solutions for next-generation wireless networking.
Semiconductor legislation failures show why the U.S. struggles to compete The Washington Post As President Biden heads toward potentially cataclysmic midterm elections, he has a last chance to show that he can make the machinery of Congress work to pass a big, bipartisan plan to bolster America’s dominance in technology. |
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TRADEChip exports to Russia plunged by 90% after curbs-U.S. official Reuters Global exports of semiconductors to Russia have plummeted by 90% since the United States and allies slapped export controls on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Wednesday.
Taiwan, United States to hold trade talks on Monday Reuters Taiwan and the United States will hold trade talks on Monday under a newly agreed framework, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.
U.S. and allies boost engagement with Pacific nations amid China push The Japan Times Three months after China struck a controversial security deal with the Solomon Islands, Washington and four of its allies announced the establishment of a new mechanism to ramp up engagement with Pacific island nations.
EU and New Zealand agree free trade deal Financial Times |
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CHINAChina Is Tightening Its Grip on Big Tech WIRED
China completes overhaul of antitrust law to corral Big Tech Nikkei Asia Chinese tech companies will face stiffer penalties for crossing Beijing’s red lines on competition after lawmakers on Friday approved changes to the country’s antitrust law that were years in the making. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYMaking dark semiconductors shine Science Daily The energy-levels of semiconductors can be rearranged by coupling between light particles (photons) and excited electrons so that a formerly dark material becomes optically active.
New single-mode semiconductor laser delivers power with scalability Science Daily Engineers have created a new type of semiconductor laser that accomplishes an elusive goal in the field of optics: the ability to maintain a single mode of emitted light while maintaining the ability to scale up in size and power. |
SIA NEWS
SIA Applauds Renewal of WTO Tariff Moratorium, Urges WTO to Make it Permanent Press Release After a rocky start, MC12 produced important outcomes for global trade in semiconductors and a range of other essential technologies, services, and industrial products. We greatly appreciate the strong leadership of Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the tireless work of the U.S. negotiating team and all Ministers to deliver positive results, including the agreement to extend the WTO Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions until the next Ministerial. For nearly 25 years, the Moratorium has supported the explosive growth of global trade for big and small companies across all sectors, including Internet-related services, entertainment, semiconductors, and consumer and industrial electronics. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKET
With Funding Stalled, Chip Makers Warn Congress the U.S. Is Lagging NYT John Neuffer, the chief executive of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said the industry had been under “withering pressure” to build new manufacturing facilities to respond to the explosion of demand for chips. Mr. Neuffer said that building facilities was often 25 to 50 percent cheaper in foreign countries than in the United States, largely because of the manufacturing incentives foreign countries offered. Some U.S. state governments do offer funding to court chip manufacturers, but the federal government “is not in the game,” he added.
2 huge chip makers warn of expansion delays as subsidies bill languishes The Washington Post
Auto industry CEOs urge Congress to quickly pass chips funding Reuters Major automakers and industry suppliers on Wednesday urged Congress to move quickly to pass $52 billion in subsidies for U.S. semiconductor production, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
Democrats in Congress ‘optimistic’ chips deal can happen soon Reuters U.S. Democrats said on Tuesday they were hopeful of reaching a $52 billion bipartisan deal to subsidize U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and boost U.S. competitiveness with Chinese technology. |
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TRADEU.S. business group calls for ‘urgent’ Taiwan free trade talks Reuters The United States should “urgently” start talks with Taiwan on a free trade agreement with the aim to present a completed text for passage in 2024, the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan said in an annual policy paper published on Wednesday.
EU and India to restart trade talks after decade-long gap Financial Times The EU will restart trade negotiations with India after a nearly 10-year pause as western countries try to woo New Delhi away from its historic ties with Russia. |
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CHINAUS Sanctions Help China Supercharge Its Chipmaking Industry Bloomberg China’s chip industry is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, after US sanctions on local champions from Huawei Technologies Co. to Hikvision spurred appetite for home-grown components. Nineteen of the world’s 20 fastest-growing chip industry firms over the past four quarters, on average, hail from the world’s No. 2 economy, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compared with just 8 at the same point last year.
South China Morning Post China has drafted a grand “digital government” plan through to 2035, as the state seeks to improve its governance of the world’s most populous country through digital technologies.
China’s Tech Giants Lost Their Swagger and May Never Get It Back Bloomberg On trading floors in New York and Hong Kong, the brightening mood toward Chinese technology companies is unmistakable: With stocks like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. surging from multi-year lows, talk of a new bull market is growing louder. Yet speak to executives, entrepreneurs and venture capital investors intimately involved in China’s tech sector and a more downbeat picture emerges. Interviews with more than a dozen industry players suggest the outlook is still far from rosy, despite signs that the Communist Party’s crackdown on big tech is softening at the edges. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYArtificial Neural Network Helps Self-Driving Cars to Learn from Own Memory AZO Robotics By using artificial intelligence to detect pedestrians, other cars and possible impediments, an autonomous vehicle is able to navigate city streets and other less crowded areas. Artificial neural networks, trained to “see” the environment around the automobile and imitate the human visual perception system, are used to do this.
Novel Family Of Semiconductors Semiconductor Engineering A series of novel semiconductors AAe6Si12P20X (A = Na, K, Rb, Cs; Ae = Sr, Ba; X = Cl, Br, I) is reported. Their crystal structures feature a tetrahedral Si–P framework with large zeolite-like pores hosting two types of cations, monoatomic A+ and unprecedented octahedral X@Ae611+. Mixing of the A and Ba cations was detected by single crystal X-ray diffraction and confirmed by multinuclear solid state NMR. The reported compounds are highly stable semiconductors with a bandgap range from 1.4 to 2.0 eV. |
SIA NEWS
SIA Joins 120+ Business Leaders’ Call for Swift Enactment of Competitiveness Legislation Press Release “SIA joins U.S. business leaders in calling on Congress to swiftly pass competitiveness legislation that includes critical funding and incentives for domestic semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “As demonstrated by the breadth of signatories, America’s economy, workforce, national security, and technological leadership are built on semiconductors. Federal investment in the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem will ensure the U.S. continues to lead in the critical sectors of tomorrow, while also creating hundreds of thousands of high-paying American jobs, strengthening our economy, and securing our supply chains for decades to come.” |
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More than 100 CEOs urge U.S. Congress to pass China competition bill Reuters “The leaders of our industry are under pressure to get fabs up to respond to the growing demand for chips. And they can’t wait,” said SIA CEO John Neuffer, adding that the bill would “ensure that more of those fabs are going to be built in the U.S. rather than overseas.”
Big Tech begs Congress to pass $52bn chip subsidies bill The Register The association said it hopes the final legislation will include a measure for investment tax credits that semiconductor manufacturing and design companies can advantage of in addition to the $52 billion in chip subsidies that has been the heart of the bill.
Over 100 CEOs Including Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft Press For China Competition Bill Benzinga SIA CEO John Neuffer disclosed that the bill would ensure that more of those fabs were built in the U.S. rather than overseas when the industry leaders battled a severe chip crisis.
Tech Bosses Urge Congress to Pass Bill Boosting Chip Sector Support The Street “The competitiveness legislation pending in Congress is critical to the U.S. economy, national security, and supply chain resilience,” the letter said. “The rest of the world is not waiting for the U.S. to act. Our global competitors are investing in their industry, their workers, and their economies, and it is imperative that Congress act to enhance U.S. competitiveness.”
Business Leaders Prod Lawmakers on China Bill Politico The letter, organized by the Semiconductor Industry Association (whose members have $52 billion in subsidies for chipmakers on the line) is short and sweet — the message itself is only three paragraphs, but the list of signatures spans six pages. It appears to reflect a new urgency on behalf of the business community, as it follows reports that negotiations on the bills are on the verge of collapse, “with Republicans growing skeptical of the measure as midterm elections near and Democrats focusing instead on gun violence,” according to Bloomberg.
Big Tech’s ban on political ads comes at a cost Protocol The clock is ticking on the Chips Act. A group of 123 CEOs — including those from Alphabet, Microsoft, Intel, Samsung and Amazon — urged Congress to act quickly to sign competitiveness legislation into law. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has also warned that Congress needed to pass the Chips Act or “companies will have no other choice but to build” abroad.
Chip bosses write to Pelosi to speed up Chips Act Electronics Weekly Although both Houses of Congress passed separate versions of the bill in February, wranglings continue over reconciling the different versions and over where the $52 billion should be allocated , while some Congressmen are having doubts about the value of the whole project. The SIA has organised a letter to Nancy Pelosi asking for action signed by industry notables.
CEOs call for Congress to pass CHIPS for America Act Electronics 360 “SIA joins U.S. business leaders in calling on Congress to swiftly pass competitiveness legislation that includes critical funding and incentives for domestic semiconductor research, design and manufacturing,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “As demonstrated by the breadth of signatories, America’s economy, workforce, national security, and technological leadership are built on semiconductors.”
India to pump $30bn into tech sector and chip supply chain Nikkei Asia India will spend $30 billion to overhaul its tech industry and build up a chip supply chain to ensure it is not “held hostage” to foreign providers, the country’s top diplomat to Taiwan told Nikkei Asia in an interview. |
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TRADEWTO Set to Debate Tariffs on $26.7 Trillion in Global E-Commerce Bloomberg If the moratorium lapsed, “it could set in motion a stampede to impose tariffs on digital flows across borders, put an unnecessary strain on an already battered global economy, and signal to the world that inflation be damned,” according to John Neuffer, the CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Global tech on edge as WTO weighs e-commerce tariffs Reuters John Neuffer, chief executive of the U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association, said tariff-free data flows were essential for countries wishing to attract foreign. They also offered clear benefits to consumers and small businesses, he said. “We heard alarm bells that things were in trouble, with much more risk of the moratorium not being extended,” Neuffer told Reuters. “The risk is that if one or two go, it sets off a torrent of efforts by other countries to do the same thing” – impose tariffs.
Reuters The White House on Monday urged Britain and the European Union to return to talks to resolve differences over implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, but said it does not expect the issue to impede a U.S.-UK trade dialogue next week. |
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CHINAChina’s semiconductor output in May rebounds as Covid-19 restrictions ease South China Morning Post China recorded a slight uptick in semiconductor output in May compared with the previous month, in a sign that the national economy was improving, although the impact of strict Covid-19 control measures persisted, official data released on Wednesday showed.
China’s tech regulation is getting more ‘rational,’ says top executive of JD.com CNBC Regulation on China’s technology sector is not loosening, it’s just becoming more “rational,” a top executive at e-commerce firm JD.com told CNBC. Over the past 16 months, Beijing has enacted sweeping regulation on the internet industry, a move that has contributed to billions of dollars of value being wiped off from China’s internet sector. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYLet machines do the work: Automating semiconductor research with machine learning Science Daily The development of new thin semiconductor materials requires a quantitative analysis of a large amount of reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) data, which is time consuming and requires expertise. To tackle this issue, scientists identify machine learning techniques that can help automate RHEED data analysis. Their findings could greatly accelerate semiconductor research and pave the way for faster, energy efficient electronic devices.
Atomically thin semiconductors for nanophotonics Phys.Org Atomically thin semiconductors such as molybdenum disulfide and tungsten disulfide are promising materials for nanoscale photonic devices. These approximately 2D semiconductors support so-called excitons, which are bound electron-hole pairs, that can align vertically along the thin plane of the materials.
Variation Making Trouble In Advanced Packages Semiconductor Engineering Variation is becoming increasingly problematic as chip designs become more heterogeneous and targeted by application, making it difficult to identify the root cause of problems or predict what can go wrong and when. |
SIA NEWS
Slapping Tariffs on Digital Data Flows Is a Really Bad Idea SIA Blog The fate of a quarter-century old agreement that has served as a foundation for global digital trade will be decided in a week when trade ministers from around the world meet in Geneva for the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 21.1% Year-to-Year, 0.7% Month-to-Month in April Press Release “Global semiconductor sales have increased by more than 20% on a year-to-year basis for 13 consecutive months, indicating consistently high and growing demand for semiconductors across a range of critical sectors,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “High global chip demand will necessitate more semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing in the years ahead, and we urge leaders in Washington to enact innovation and competitiveness legislation that ensures more of this chip production and innovation occurs on U.S. shores.” |
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Editor’s Corner: Congress should act now to approve $52B for chip manufacturing Fierce Electronics “We’re at a pivotal moment for enactment of semiconductor investments that will greatly benefit the U.S. economy and our national security,” said Daniel Rosso, communications director at Semiconductor Industry Association, via email on Wednesday.
Biden’s $52 Billion Chips Plan Stuck; Lawmakers Eye Election Bloomberg “There needs to be a greater sense of urgency,” said Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who is one of the authors of the chips legislation. “I worry that there’s some of us, this is our top priority, but it feels like for too many, this is their second.”
Summer deadline looms for $52 billion to boost chip production The Detroit News The final version of Congress’ economic competitiveness bill including $52 billion for semiconductor chip production is still amorphous — a delay that’s a cause of concern for many of Michigan’s state and federal policymakers.
NYT Over half the world’s chip-making capacity — and far more for the most advanced designs — is in Taiwan, which faces growing pressure from mainland China, itself an increasingly powerful player in the industry. As of 2020, according to a report by the Semiconductor Industry Association, the U.S. had 12 percent of global manufacturing capacity. |
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CHINAShenzhen wants to double semiconductor output by 2025 under new plan to boost tech industry South China Morning Post By 2025, Shenzhen aims to develop a semiconductor industry that can bring in 250 billion yuan (US$37.5 billion) in annual sales, compared to the 110 billion yuan in revenue last year, according to an action plan jointly issued on Monday by the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission and other local authorities.
China is easing its big tech crackdown amid a wounded economy Quartz China’s crackdown on big tech at one point erased billions of dollars of value from some of the country’s most prominent companies. Now, as the country faces an increasingly grim economic outlook, regulators are hinting that they may ease their scrutiny of the sector.
China’s push for education equality China Daily This year a record 11.93 million Chinese students are taking the National College Entrance Exam. The exam, otherwise known as the “gaokao,” is traditionally renowned for its highly competitive nature.
South China Morning Post China plans a sweeping makeover of mainland academic journals, turning them into world-class organs similar to British weekly Nature and peer-reviewed US publication Science, to raise the profile and influence of domestic scientific research, local authorities said in Beijing on Monday. |
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TRADEBiden to offer new economic framework for Latin America Axios President Biden plans to announce a new economic framework for Latin America on Wednesday, focusing on climate change, workers’ rights and supply chains, according to an administration official and people briefed on the plan.
CNBC Amid the fanfare of U.S. President Joe Biden’s new Indo-Pacific strategy, China flew under the radar and hosted a high-level discussion on RCEP, the world’s largest trade pact.
Risking EU clash, Britain pushes post-Brexit Northern Ireland bill Reuters Britain will present legislation to parliament on Monday to unilaterally revise the post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland, raising the risk of a trade war and a new clash with Brussels. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYResearchers criticize Senate plan to steer more NSF funding to ‘have not’ states Science Top research universities in just a handful of U.S. states conduct the majority of research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), while institutions in half the country receive only crumbs. The U.S. Senate wants NSF to correct that longstanding geographic imbalance. But its solution—to immediately allocate 20% of NSF’s budget to what is currently a small program serving those have-not states—is drawing fierce opposition from many universities and nearly 100 members of Congress.
Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S. EE Times Purdue University is ramping up what it calls the first “comprehensive” degree program in the U.S. in semiconductor engineering as America aims to rebuild its chip industry. |
SIA NEWS
Press Release “Semiconductors underpin America’s economy, national security, and leadership in the technologies that will determine our future, including autonomous vehicles, supercomputing, virtual and augmented reality, IoT devices, and more,” said Sen. Warner. “To sharpen America’s edge in semiconductor technology, we need to enact final innovation and competitiveness legislation that incentivizes domestic chip manufacturing, invests in U.S. chip research, and promotes greater semiconductor design investments in the U.S.” |
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Warner Huddles with Chipmakers Politico The Silicon Valley confab was being organized by the Semiconductor Industry Association, whose members include top chipmakers and which has pushed relentlessly for federal assistance in addressing a global chip shortage. While the meeting will undoubtedly touch on the $52 billion in manufacturing and research subsidies for the industry that is the centerpiece of both China bills, the trade group is also “eager to discuss shoehorning into the final package a 25-percent microchip investment tax credit,” Brandon reports.
Strengthening Domestic Chip Research, Design, Manufacturing I-Connect007 “For America to continue to set the global standard economically, militarily, and technologically, we must strengthen U.S. leadership in semiconductors,” said SIA president and CEO John Neuffer. “We greatly appreciate the strong leadership of Sen. Warner – and the bipartisan group of other champions in Congress – in advancing legislation to fortify U.S.-based chip research, design, and manufacturing. Today’s discussion is an example of the type of government-industry collaboration needed to ensure America stays on top in chip technology for decades to come.” New York lining up ‘green’ chip fab incentives Time Union In an attempt to become as competitive as possible for a coming wave of computer chip factory projects being planned across the United States, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s economic development team is looking to codify the amount of state tax breaks it will be willing to offer companies to build here. |
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CHINAZero-COVID, big money: China’s anti-virus spending boosts medical, tech, construction Reuters China’s ‘zero-COVID’ policy of constantly monitoring, testing and isolating its citizens to prevent the spread of the coronavirus has battered much of the country’s economy, but it has created bubbles of growth in the medical, technology and construction sectors.
China Is Leading the Global Decline in Venture Capital Deals Bloomberg China, once the primary rival to Silicon Valley’s technology success, is now leading the global decline in venture capital investments.
Amazon to pull Kindle out of China, other businesses to remain Reuters Amazon.com (AMZN.O) said it will stop supplying retailers in China with its Kindle e-readers from Thursday and will shut its Kindle e-bookstore there next year, in the latest pullback by a U.S. tech firm from the restrictive Chinese market. |
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TRADEU.S.-Taiwan trade talks could outpace Indo-Pacific effort, USTR official says Reuters New U.S. trade negotiations with Taiwan could move more quickly than broader talks with 12 Indo-Pacific countries given strong interest in Taipei and Washington in deepening economic ties, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi said on Thursday.
CNN
The Kiwis make a case on trade Politico New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will visit the White House today with an agenda that includes boosting trade relations across Asia. That will entail discussion of Biden’s newly launched Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which New Zealand agreed to negotiate last week along with 13 other countries. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYPaper-based semiconductor for safer disposable electronics! ElectroPages Recently, researchers have demonstrated a new semiconductor material made entirely from paper-based materials that may have the ability to be used in wearable sensors and disposable electronics.
New Ultra-Thin Electrode Material: Step Closer To Next-Generation Semiconductors Eurasia Review To realize artificial intelligence systems and autonomous driving systems, which is often seen in movies, in everyday life, processors that function as the brain of computers must be able to process more data.
Chip Substitutions Raising Security Concerns Semiconductor Engineering Substituting chips is becoming more common in the electronics industry as shortages drag on, allowing systems vendors to continue selling everything from cars to manufacturing equipment and printer cartridges without waiting for a commoditized part. |
SIA NEWS
SIA Blog With a lot of auspicious sunny weather forecast for the week, a sizable high-tech industry delegation is converging on Geneva to advance the idea of again expanding product coverage of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), originally launched by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1997 to eliminate tariffs on a broad swath of tech products from cell phones to computers. |
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Republicans split on adding semiconductor tax breaks to competition bill Roll Call An effort to add bipartisan tax incentives for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing to a larger economic competitiveness package is running into divisions among House Republicans.
Wafer Shortage Improvement In Sight For 300mm, But Not 200mm Semiconductor Engineering The supply chain for bare wafers is off-kilter. Demand is appreciably higher than the wafer suppliers can keep up with, creating shortages that could last for years.
New End Markets, More Demand For Complex Chips Semiconductor Engineering Growth outlook is strong for ICs, both individually and in packages, but getting costs under control is a huge challenge. |
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CHINAWhy China opposes the US’ FABS and CHIPS act? TechHQ Even Semiconductor Industry Association’s (SIA) president and CEO John Neuffer, said in a March statement that “Coupled with funding the CHIPS Act, enactment of a tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing and design as set forth in the House’s FABS Act are parts of a complementary, holistic strategy — and both are needed to produce robust, predictable, and durable incentives to restore US semiconductor leadership. We urge leaders in Congress to swiftly enact the bill and fund the semiconductor manufacturing incentives and research provisions in the CHIPS Act.”
China’s top chipmaker SMIC says smartphone, PC demand has ‘dropped like a rock’ Reuters China’s top chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (0981.HK) said on Friday it anticipates smartphone sales from its clients this year to fall by at least 200 million units due to the Russia-Ukraine war and China’s COVID lockdowns.
From Sneakers to Teslas, China Lockdowns Upend Global Supply Chains Bloomberg The economic consequences from China’s Covid-19 lockdowns are starting to be felt by companies and consumers across the globe, and expectations are that the reverberations will only get stronger.
China’s semiconductor output shrinks as Covid-19 lockdowns disrupt production, crimp demand South China Morning Post China’s monthly output of chips shrunk to its lowest level since 2020, as strict lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities disrupted production in downstream industries from cars to robotics. |
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TRADEEU-US Trade and Technology Council meets to coordinate on supply chains The Register This is not the only international talking shop the US is involved with when it comes to technology. Last year, the US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIAC) and the Chinese Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA) launched a working group to address technical and trade-related issues between the two nations. ®
U.S, E.U will seek to head off subsidy race over chip production, official says Reuters The United States and European Union will announce a joint effort to avert a “subsidy race” as they scramble to boost production of scarce semiconductor chips, a senior Biden administration official said. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYWhat’s Down the Road for Silicon? NYT
Transforming AI Models For Accelerator Chips Semiconductor Engineering AI is all about speeding up the movement and processing of data. Ali Cheraghi, solution architect at Flex Logix, talks about why floating point data needs to be converted into integer point data, how that impacts power and performance, and how different approaches in quantization play into this formula. |
SIA NEWS
SIA Welcomes Kickoff Meeting of Conference Committee on Competition Legislation Press Release “Leaders in Washington have an historic opportunity to enact competitiveness legislation that strengthens the U.S. economy and national security, sharpens America’s technological edge, and reinforces U.S. leadership in semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing for decades to come. We welcome the first meeting of the conference committee and urge swift action to advance bipartisan legislation that funds the CHIPS Act and enacts a FABS Act investment tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing and design.” |
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Lawmakers press for semiconductor manufacturing tax credits on China bill The Hill “Senator [Ron] Wyden [D-Ore.] and I are advocating that the FABS Act, which is for fabricating R&D for semiconductors, be included, and we’re both also supportive of doing the R&D tax extension,” Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said in an interview. “They’re not in the bill, so we’re advocating that.”
Top House Tax-Writer Backs Adding Credit for Chips to China Bill Bloomberg Government More lawmakers say they’re looking to add tax breaks for semiconductors to a sweeping package aimed at bolstering US competition against China. Negotiations on the compromise bill are set to formally begin Thursday, with a goal of wrapping up by the end of the summer. The House- and Senate-passed bills (H.R. 4521 and S. 1260) include more than $50 billion for chip grants, but lawmakers say there’s a need for tax credits as well.
‘Pass the damn bill:’ Biden demands chips legislation to counter China tech rise CNBC President Joe Biden on Friday demanded Congress swiftly pass the Bipartisan Innovation Act, a multibillion-dollar investment in the U.S. semiconductor industry that both Republican and Democrat say will help insulate the country from future supply chain disruptions in Asia.
Exclusive: Congress urged to ease immigration for foreign science talent Axios More than four dozen former national security leaders are calling on Congress to exempt international advanced technical degree holders from green card caps in a bid to maintain U.S. science and tech leadership, especially over China, according to a copy of a letter viewed by Axios.
India Semiconductor Ambitions Are a Heavy Lift WSJ Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi isn’t known for keeping his head down and working silently on a goal. Fanfare and zealous speeches are more on brand. The latest case in point: his speech at the Semicon India 2022 conference in late April, pitching India as a potential semiconductor manufacturing hub. |
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CHINAChina opposes semiconductor bill because it will give U.S. advantage -U.S. commerce chief Reuters U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday the Chinese government opposes an effort in Congress to ramp up U.S. semiconductor manufacturing because it will give the United States more of a competitive punch.
South China Morning Post With strong government support, the country’s semiconductor sales could reach a 17.4 per cent share of the global market by 2024, making China one of the world’s largest chip makers after the US and South Korea, according to a report from the Semiconductor Industry Association in the US.
South China Morning Post Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China’s top chip maker, said the Shanghai lockdown could reduce production by 5 per cent this quarter, while domestic smartphone makers could see as many as 200 million fewer shipments this year. |
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TRADEU.S. looks to rejoin Asia trade game Axios President Biden’s upcoming visit to Japan this month will “coincide with the formal launch” of a new U.S.-led regional economic framework, Japan’s ambassador to the U.S. Koji Tomita said on Monday.
Sanctions forcing Russia to use appliance parts in military gear, U.S. says The Washington Post U.S.-led sanctions are forcing Russia to use computer chips from dishwashers and refrigerators in some military equipment, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday.
US congress delegation to fly to London as Northern Ireland protocol concerns grow The Guardian A delegation of influential US congress representatives will fly to London within days amid growing concern in the White House about spiralling tensions over the Northern Ireland protocol, the Guardian can reveal. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYUnexpected Semiconductor Properties Revealed by Innovative New Tool SciTechDaily A team of researchers investigating the properties of a semiconductor combined with a new thin oxide sheet discovered an unexpected new source of conductivity from oxygen atoms trapped within.
New transistors integrating high-k perovskite oxides and 2D semiconductors TexhXplore Over the past decades, electronics engineers and material scientists worldwide have been investigating the potential of various materials for fabricating transistors, devices that amplify or switch electrical signals in electronic devices. Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have been known to be particularly promising materials for fabricating the new electronic devices.
Light-Infused Hybrid Particles Speed Energy Transfer in Organic Semiconductors SciTechDaily Polaritons offer the best of two very different worlds. These hybrid particles combine light and molecules of organic material, making them ideal energy transfer vessels in organic semiconductors. They are both compatible with modern electronics but also move speedily, thanks to their photonic origins. |
SIA NEWS
The 2022 SIA Factbook: Your Source for Semiconductor Industry Data SIA Blog Post The 2022 SIA Factbook presents a clear picture of the trends in the U.S. semiconductor industry and global market using data. Factbook sections include data on the global industry and market, capital and R&D investment, jobs, and productivity. Data is updated through 2021, and most of the data is presented over a 20-year period, which provides a picture of long-term industry and market trends.
SIA, FIRST® Announce Partnership to Strengthen U.S. STEM Workforce Press Release Together, SIA and FIRST will collaborate on equipping PreK-12 students with the skills necessary to pursue a career in science and technology, facilitating mentorship programs that improve the workforce talent pipeline for the semiconductor industry, and addressing public policy matters affecting STEM education and workforce development in the U.S.
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 23% in Q1 2022 Compared to Q1 2021 Press Release Global semiconductor sales remained strong during the first quarter of 2022, increasing across all major regional markets and product categories compared to the first quarter of last year” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “For the month of March, sales into the Americas continued to lead all regional markets, increasing by 40.1% year-to-year. |
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The chip crisis: Can Congress help solve America’s semiconductor problem? Dallas Morning News America faces a serious economic and national security risk when it comes to the development and manufacturing of semiconductor chips that are integral to daily life in the modern world. A strong bipartisan majority of Congress understands this and has rightly acted to boost the semiconductor industry domestically. But the job isn’t done, and we are writing to urge Congress to make sure it does get done.
America is trying to fix the chip shortage one factory at a time VOX “The clock is ticking,” John Neuffer, the CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade organization that represents American chip companies, told Recode. “Decisions are being made today as to where to site those fabs.”
Electronics Weekly “Global semiconductor sales remained strong during the first quarter of 2022, increasing across all major regional markets and product categories compared to the first quarter of last year” says SIA CEO John Neuffer, “for the month of March, sales into the Americas continued to lead all regional markets, increasing by 40.1% year-to-year.”
Global Semiconductor Sales Up 23% in Q1 2022 EE Times Asia Worldwide sales of semiconductors totaled $151.7 billion during the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 23% over the first quarter of 2021, but 0.5% less than the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
Chip supply issues are still giving some of world’s biggest companies a major headache CNBC An ongoing shortage of chips and other basic materials is forcing some of the world’s biggest tech and automotive companies to scale back their targets this year. |
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CHINABiden: China lobbying against chip manufacturing bill Electronics 360 If nothing is done to correct the situation, this will decline to 10% in the coming decade, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). As America and other regions failed to keep up with demand for chips, semiconductor manufacturing aggregated in Taiwan, South Korea and China as these governments offered substantial incentives, placing the U.S. and other countries at a competitive disadvantage.
Senate acts to launch formal talks on China competition bill Fox Business The Senate took action on Wednesday to begin formal talks on a bill that will allot $52 billion for semiconductor chip production and supply chain issues and to help boost competition with China.
Morning Consult As Congress debates legislation to bolster the United States’ competitiveness with China, a new Morning Consult/Politico survey finds that while voters are more likely to believe the United States is ahead on military technology, autonomous vehicles and 5G, pluralities say it trails China in other areas, including artificial intelligence and chip manufacturing.
U.S. Considers Unprecedented Sanctions on China Tech Giant Hikvision Bloomberg Shares of Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. tumbled 10% as the U.S. considers imposing new sanctions on surveillance-technology giant, potentially the harshest measures so far against a major Chinese company.
China developed a drone swarm that can fly effortlessly through an entire forest Interesting Engineering Researchers at Zhejiang University in China have developed the necessary technology for a drone swarm to fly through uncontrolled environments completely autonomously, Science Alert reported. |
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TRADEEurope Seeks to Redraw Trade Routes as War Strains Alliances Bloomberg Russia’s war with Ukraine is giving a group of European Union countries fresh incentives to speed up work on free-trade agreements.
What is the CPTPP and why is China eager to join? South China Morning Post The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is the successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which was a key plank in the Obama administration’s “Pivot to Asia” strategy that aimed to create an economic counterweight to China’s regional influence.
USTR remains mum on China tariff review plans Politico USTR still has not said how it plans to proceed with a legally required review over the next several months of most of the tariffs that Trump imposed on $350 billion worth of Chinese goods. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYLight-infused particles go the distance in organic semiconductors Science Daily Polaritons offer the best of two very different worlds. These hybrid particles combine light and molecules of organic material, making them ideal vessels for energy transfer in organic semiconductors. They are both compatible with modern electronics but also move speedily, thanks to their photonic origins. |
SIA NEWS
SIA Applauds Start of Conference Negotiations on Bicameral Competitiveness Legislation Press Release Leaders in Washington from both parties recognize that to lead the future, America must lead in semiconductors. Semiconductors are essential to America’s continued economic and national security, as well as its ability to compete and win in the game-changing technologies of today and tomorrow. |
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India to offer more incentives to lure companies in semiconductors push Reuters India on Friday said it will expand its incentives for those investing in semiconductor manufacturing, as its government woos global companies in a bid to become a key player in the global supply chain for chips.
China Competition Bill Inches Ahead in Congress as Midterms Loom Bloomberg A bill that would aid the U.S. domestic semiconductor industry and bolster competitiveness with China inched forward in Congress as lawmakers race to complete negotiations before the midterm elections scuttle their hopes of delivering a bipartisan win.
Korea looks to future cars for restoring IC design DigiTimes South Korea’s industry is calling for more efforts to nurture IC designers amid the rising demand for automotive chips. It is believed that small-scaled IC designers will be able to gain an upper hand in the future car market.
Chip Industry Heads Toward $1T Semiconductor Engineering The chip industry is on track to hit $1 trillion sometime over the next decade, and while the exact timing depends on a variety of factors, the trend line appears to be stable. The digitization of data, the digitalization of technology, and the expansion into new and existing markets, collectively are expected to drive chip industry growth for years to come. The Wrong Way to Compete With China Bloomberg Congress is moving closer to imposing unprecedented new restrictions on tens of billions of dollars in outbound U.S. investments. Depending on how they’re written, the new rules could overwhelm regulators, entangle U.S. companies in red tape, and exacerbate tensions with allies. Lawmakers and officials should seek less disruptive ways to address security concerns. |
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CHINASouth China Morning Post China’s top chip maker said more than 60 per cent of its workers in Shanghai are living on campus, showing the pressure that factories operating in and around the city are under to sustain the country’s semiconductor supply chain amid an extended Covid-19 lockdown.
The prospect of lockdowns in Beijing fuels more concerns about supply chain disruptions. NYT The prospect of further lockdowns in China prompted a fresh wave of economic anxiety on Monday as investors and companies whose supply chains run through China contemplated the impact of 70 new virus cases that the Beijing government said it had detected over the weekend.
Global Supply Chain Crisis Flares Up Again Where It All Began Bloomberg Beijing’s zero-tolerance approach amid an escalating virus outbreak brings the pandemic full circle, more than two years after its emergence in Wuhan upended the global economy. Shipping congestion at Chinese ports, combined with Russia’s war in Ukraine, risks a one-two punch that threatens to derail the recovery, already buffeted by inflation pressures and headwinds to growth. |
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TRADEUS urges compromise on Britain and EU over N Ireland trade deal Financial Times
EU to Pursue Trade Deal With India to Reduce Its Ties to Russia Bloomberg The European Union plans to relaunch trade talks with India in an attempt to give the South Asian nation a viable alternative to diversify away from Russia, according to a senior official familiar with the plans. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYLight-infused particles go the distance in organic semiconductors Phys.Org Polaritons offer the best of two very different worlds. These hybrid particles combine light and molecules of organic material, making them ideal vessels for energy transfer in organic semiconductors. They are compatible with modern electronics but also move speedily, thanks to their photonic origins.
Pyrolyzed Cellulose Nanofiber Paper (CNP) Semiconductor With A 3D Network Structure Semiconductor Engineering Semiconducting nanomaterials with 3D network structures exhibit various fascinating properties such as electrical conduction, high permeability, and large surface areas, which are beneficial for adsorption, separation, and sensing applications.
A new breakthrough brings semiconductors made of wood closer to reality Interesting Engineering The idea of making semiconductors from wood isn’t as far-out as it sounds. That’s because cell walls in plants are made of a material called cellulose, and cellulose can be made to conduct electricity when heated to relatively high temperatures under certain conditions. |
INDUSTRY/MARKET
SIA USA meets Karnataka Government to further semiconductor manufacturing in India Manufacturing Today India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) and The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) are leaving no stone unturned to get the manufacturing eco system of semiconductors developed in India. The global trade association SIA and their Indian counterparts IESA met with the Government of Karnataka. During the meeting, the associations had focused discussions on developing further the semiconductor industry in India, particularly in Bengaluru and beyond Bengaluru in the state of Karnataka.
Congress seeks compromise to boost computer chip industry AP News A global computer chip shortage has made it harder for consumers to get their hands on cars, computers and other modern-day necessities, so Congress is looking to boost chip manufacturing and research in the United States with billions of dollars from the federal government.
KVUE ABC On Monday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) visited University of Texas at Austin‘s J.J. Pickle Research Campus to meet with UT leaders and local businesses to discuss semiconductor manufacturing efforts.
The White House is lobbying hard for chip funding that experts say would help Pittsburgh tech firms WESA NPR U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo made the case last week that increased investment in domestic chipmaking would benefit technological innovation in the Pittsburgh region, and industry experts agree.
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CHINAChina’s Q1 IC output down 4.1% Electronics Weekly In March alone, production fell 5.1%. Production was hit by Covid-induced lock-downs, most recently in Shanghai. The Q1 fall was the largest since Q1 2019 when production fell 8.7%.
South China Morning Post GCL Technology, one of China’s largest producers of raw materials for solar panels, is planning to broaden its business by making polysilicon for applications in electronic and solar-energy industries.
Many factory workers in Shanghai can’t get back to work, even after Covid controls ease CNBC Foreign businesses are struggling to bring workers back to factories after weeks of lockdowns in Shanghai, as the country battles its worst Covid outbreak since the pandemic began. |
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TRADEBritain targets first state-by-state U.S. trade deals next month Reuters Britain is in talks with around 20 U.S. states to secure individual trade deals as soon as next month, trade policy minister Penny Mordaunt told parliament on Thursday.
Taiwan seeks Indo-Pacific Economic Framework membership with U.S. Reuters A senior Taiwanese minister has pressed U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to include the island in the United States’ forthcoming Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, his office said on Tuesday.
India and UK to press ahead with talks on free trade deal The Guardian India and the UK will press ahead with talks on a bilateral free trade agreement, Boris Johnson and the Indian premier, Narendra Modi, have said, after the UK made clear it was willing to make immigration part of any deal. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYVan Der Waals Semiconductor Empowered Vertical Color Sensor Semiconductor Engineering Biomimetic artificial vision is receiving significant attention nowadays, particularly for the development of neuromorphic electronic devices, artificial intelligence, and microrobotics.
Photomask Shortages Grow At Mature Nodes Semiconductor Engineering A surge in demand for chips at mature nodes, coupled with aging photomask-making equipment at those geometries, are causing significant concern across the supply chain. ermanent dipoles gives rise to ferroelectricity or antiferroelectricity, respectively. |
SIA NEWS
SIA Highlights Low Risk of Forced Labor in Semiconductor Supply Chains SIA Blog SIA testified today at a hearing convened by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on methods to prevent the importation of goods mined, produced, or manufactured from regions of concern into the United States. The hearing was convened pursuant to the recently enacted UFLPA, legislation that designated polysilicon – a material used to create solar panels and semiconductor wafers – as a high-priority enforcement area. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKET
US will help India to boost country’s semiconductor ecosystem Business Insider The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), which represents the chip industry in the US and India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) signed an MoU to identify potential areas of the semiconductor industry. President and CEO of SIA, John Neuffer said, SIA is happy to welcome India’s goal of becoming a powerful digital economy and a hub for semiconductors and electronics.
Indian government is up to the semiconductor challenge, says SIA chief John Neuffer Business Today As the government of India is sharply focused on making India a global and trusted partner in the electronics ecosystem and semiconductor space, India’s vision is well appreciated by the experts globally. Speaking to Business Today, John Neuffer, president and CEO of the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), said that he is very excited about India’s Semiconductor Mission and would like India to succeed. “A lot is going on in the semiconductor space right now. And India is making a significant move here. It is always good to have a new competitor in the market. It keeps us all innovative and lean.”
US semiconductor industry association signs MoU with IESA The Free Press Journal The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), trade association representing the US semiconductor industry, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), the trade group representing India’s semiconductor and electronics systems design and manufacturing industry, to foster collaboration and identify potential opportunities between the two countries in the semiconductor sector.
54% of semiconductors were manufactured by US companies in 2021 Electronics 360 Currently, only 12% of all semiconductor manufacturing is done in the U.S. If the situation does not change, it will decline to 10% in the coming decade, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
First look: Biden to push Congress on competition bill Axios President Biden is planning to pressure Congress to pass an innovation and competition bill that would boost the semiconductor industry, among others, when he travels to Greensboro, N.C., on Thursday, Axios has learned. |
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CHINAAnalysis: China’s widening COVID curbs threaten global supply chain paralysis Reuters China’s race to stop the spread of COVID-19 is clogging highways and ports, stranding workers and shutting countless factories – disruptions that are rippling through global supply chains for goods ranging from electric vehicles to iPhones.
Shanghai’s lockdown is making the supply chain look like 2020 again Quartz The supply chain crisis that has dominated logistics for much of the pandemic started with a lull. In the first half of 2020, factories closed, shipping rates slumped, empty containers were stranded at ports, and humming ocean trade was replaced by blank sailings—when a shipping company decides it’s not worth it to sail a ship on a scheduled route. |
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TRADEWhat is IPEF, and will it help the US counter China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific? South China Morning Post The rivalry between China and the United States has escalated in recent years and is set to intensify with the launch of multiple trade groupings in Asia. The latest to be negotiated is the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), a US-led initiative which is widely seen as an effort to counter China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific.
India, EU to restart talks for trade pact in June The Economic Times India and the 27-nation European Union (EU) will restart negotiations for their long-pending free trade agreement from June, a top official said on Wednesday. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYUNL research could reduce the world’s digital energy consumption by 5% Nebraska News ABC A new spin on one of the century’s smallest but grandest inventions, the transistor, could help meet the world’s increasing need for digital memory while reducing up to 5 percent of its current energy intake.
Antiferroelectric Negative Capacitance From A Structural Phase Transition In Zirconia Semiconductor Engineering Crystalline materials with broken inversion symmetry can exhibit a spontaneous electric polarization, which originates from a microscopic electric dipole moment. Long-range polar or anti-polar order of such permanent dipoles gives rise to ferroelectricity or antiferroelectricity, respectively. |
SIA NEWS
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 32.4% Year-to-Year, 3.4% Month-to-Month in February Press Release “Global semiconductor sales remained strong in February, increasing by more than 20% for the eleventh consecutive month on a year-to-year basis,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Sales into the Americas continued to outpace other regional markets, increasing by 43.2% year-to-year in February.” |
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INDUSTRY/MARKET
US chip group makes recommendations for CHIPS Act funding EE News Europe The SIA has emphasized the need for timely action on manufacturing incentives to fill in gaps and vulnerabilities in the semiconductor supply chain, as well as a broader focus on fabs, packaging facilities, and research labs, as well as equipment and materials suppliers.
Congress selects lawmakers to hammer out deal on semiconductor chips funding Reuters There are growing calls to decrease reliance on other countries for semiconductors and the White House says funding is an urgent national security concern to ensure long-term U.S. supply of chips. In 1990, the United States produced 37% of all chips while today it accounts for only 12% of global production.
White House warns of ‘escalating vulnerabilities’ to U.S. from semiconductor shortage Reuters The White House held a classified briefing on Wednesday with some U.S. lawmakers on the dire risks to the American economy from semiconductor supply chain issues as it pushes Congress for $52 billion in funding to subsidize production.
Biden officials to brief lawmakers on semiconductor supply chain risks The Hill Biden administration officials will brief lawmakers Wednesday on the “profound” potential economic consequences from vulnerabilities in domestic semiconductor production and urge Congress to pass a sweeping competition bill to bolster the supply chain.
Spain to spend 11 billion euros on semiconductor and microchip industry, prime minister says Reuters Spain will spend 11 billion euros on a plan to boost the semiconductor and microchip industry, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday. The new spending plan, mainly financed through European Union pandemic relief funds, will be approved ‘soon’, he said.
Global Semiconductor Sales Up 32% YoY in February EE Times Asia The global semiconductor industry sales were $52.5 billion in the month of February 2022, an increase of 32.4% over the February 2021 total of $39.6 billion and 3.4% more than the January 2022 total of $50.7 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
Electronics Weekly “Global semiconductor sales remained strong in February, increasing by more than 20% for the eleventh consecutive month on a year-to-year basis,” says SIA CEO John Neuffer, “sales into the Americas continued to outpace other regional markets, increasing by 43.2% year-to-year in February.” |
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CHINAChinese EV makers foray into semiconductor and battery Digitimes Asia Chinese EV makers are investing in semiconductors and battery packs in order to resolve persisting material shortages. About 10% of the 1,000 car chips used in a NIO vehicle are undersupplied, said NIO CEO William Li in a conference call recently.
China’s tech sector is losing its shine but remains top career choice for young talent South China Morning Post China’s tech sector is losing its shine as a career choice for the country’s best educated and most entrepreneurial amid widespread headcount cuts, subdued growth and intense regulatory scrutiny, according to jobseekers and workers in the sector.
Lockdowns in Shanghai and other Chinese cities pose a growing threat to the economy CNN China’s unwavering commitment to stamping out Covid by locking down big cities such as Shanghai threatens to deal a hefty shock to its vast economy, place more strain on global supply chains and further fuel inflation. |
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TRADEKorea “positively” mulling joining US-proposed economic framework: minister The Korea Herald South Korea’s top economic policymaker said Friday the government is “positively” considering joining a new US-proposed economic framework in the Indo-Pacific region.
Australia and India thank Quad for new free trade deal ABC India and Australia’s trade ministers say a shared security partnership with the United States and Japan has helped them strike a trade deal that Australia hopes will reduce its dependence on exports to China.
RCEP is transforming trade in Asia Pacific and creating advantages for companies Thomson Reuters The RCEP will create new trade opportunities among Asian countries and accelerate the region’s economic recovery, says Zoe Martinez, a Thomson Reuters global trade leader who is focused on Asia & emerging markets. For example, the agreement will eliminate tariffs on more than 90% of goods over the next 10 to 15 years and introduce rules on investment and intellectual property to promote free trade. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY2D Semiconductors May Be Key to 3D Integration, Say Stanford Researchers All About Circuits New research indicates how 2D semiconductors could advance monolithic 3D integration in a scalable way—prolonging Moore’s law in the process.
Complex Chips Make Security More Difficult Semiconductor Engineering Semiconductor supply chain management is becoming more complex with many more moving parts as chips become increasingly disaggregated, making it difficult to ensure where parts originated and whether they have been compromised before they are added into advanced chips or packages.
Terahertz Imager Microchip Targets Vision–Impaired Environments EETimes Research teams at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) and Oklahoma State University have developed a terahertz (THz) imager microchip for industrial and other applications that helps the viewer “see” through packaging and other obstacles, such as fog, snow, dust, smoke, and fire. |
SIA NEWS
Semiconductor Industry Provides Recommendations to Commerce Department on CHIPS Act Implementation Blog Post SIA on March 25 submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Commerce in response to a Request for Information (RFI) related to implementation of the CHIPS for America Act, legislation that would provide needed investments in domestic semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKET
Why subsidies are needed for US domestic chip manufacturing Electronics 360 According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the U.S. manufactures about 12% of all chips made globally, this is down from about 37% in the 1990s. If the supply chain remains the same or the situation worsens, this will more than likely decline to 10% or less in the coming years as more manufacturing capacity is built in other countries to meet demand. The reason for the decline is due to substantial incentives offered by foreign governments, placing the U.S. in a competitive disadvantage for attracting new construction of chip manufacturing fabs, the SIA said.
Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test Semiconductor Engineering The U.S. Senate approved the 2022 America COMPETES act, which has big ramifications for the chip industry. The bill now heads to the House for further reconciliation. If approved, it would provide more than $50 billion in U.S. subsidies for semiconductor chip manufacturing. The SIAC (Semiconductor In America Coalition) urged Congress to act promptly to achieve a bipartisan compromise soon and obtain President Biden’s signature.
U.S. Senate approves $52 bln chips bill in bid to reach compromise Reuters The U.S. Senate on Monday again approved a bill to provide $52 billion in U.S. subsidies for semiconductor chips manufacturing in a bid to reach a compromise after months of discussions.
Why the global supply chain mess is getting so much worse CNN
Regardless of Political Leaning, at Least 3 in 5 Voters Back Government Help for U.S. Chipmaking Morning Consult After several semiconductor chief executives testified last week in favor of government help to boost domestic chip production amid a worldwide shortage, nearly two-thirds of registered voters in a new Morning Consult/Politico survey said they supported federal assistance for U.S. chip manufacturing. |
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CHINASouth China Morning Post China’s semiconductor supply chain is facing fresh risks after the local authority in Zhangjiang, known as Shanghai’s Silicon Valley, extended a strict lockdown in residential areas to contain an Omicron outbreak, following similar disruption in industrial hubs such as Xi’an, Suzhou and Shenzhen.
Axios Eric Schmidt has taken on big challenges before, fighting Microsoft when he led Novell and taking on Brussels when he was CEO at Google. Today, the billionaire is focusing his energy on rousing the U.S. to fight what he sees as its biggest tech struggle yet: competition with China. |
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TRADEU.S. senators complain Biden’s Indo-Pacific plan won’t cut tariffs Reuters U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai deflected complaints from Democratic and Republican senators on Thursday that the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific economic plan to counter China will not include a free trade deal that lowers tariffs.
Europe and the U.S. Make Ambitious Plans to Reduce Reliance on Russian Gas NYT The United States announced a deal with European leaders on Friday to increase shipments of natural gas to help wean Europe off Russian energy. And Germany set an ambitious goal of halving its imports of Russian oil and coal this year and freeing itself from its dependence on Russian natural gas by the middle of 2024.
Australia and India to sign trade deal on Saturday – Australia Reuters Australia will sign a trade agreement with India on Saturday that will eliminate tariffs on 85% of Australian goods entering India, helping farmers and miners to diversify export markets, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
It’s time for a digital trade agreement FORTUNE It is no secret that the U.S. has fallen behind on trade. While other nations have been racing to sign mutually beneficial trade agreements with one another, the U.S. has not entered into an agreement with a new trade partner in a decade.
Huge trade relationship at stake as China and EU meet to discuss Russia CNN China and Europe’s top leaders are set to meet on Friday, as their vast and growing trade relationship threatens to be overshadowed by differences over Russia and other geopolitical tensions. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYQubits Made By Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Semiconductor Engineering Full-scale quantum computers require the integration of millions of qubits, and the potential of using industrial semiconductor manufacturing to meet this need has driven the development of quantum computing in silicon quantum dots.
Physicists engineer ferroelectricity into well-known family of semiconductors Phys.Org MIT physicists and colleagues have engineered a new property into a well-known family of semiconductors by manipulating ultrathin sheets of the materials only a few atomic layers thick. |
INDUSTRY/MARKET
Time is running out for a deal on the China competitiveness bill The Washington Post Raimondo will get some help lobbying for the legislation this week from the Semiconductor Industry Association. The trade group’s members — who would benefit from the subsidies to the industry, as Biden pointed out in his State of the Union earlier this month — are in town this week and will meet with Raimondo, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and lawmakers.
Chip lobby descends on Washington Politico Top executives from chipmakers Intel and Micron are planning to press senators today for the rapid provision of billions in subsidies, while other industry reps work lawmakers and Biden administration officials.
Intel, Micron CEOs to make case for U.S. semiconductor subsides- testimony Reuters The chief executives of Intel (INTC.O) and Micron (MU.O) will make the case Wednesday for U.S. government subsidies to boost semiconductor manufacturing before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.
Why subsidies are needed for US domestic chip manufacturing Electronics 360 According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the U.S. manufactures about 12% of all chips made globally, this is down from about 37% in the 1990s. If the supply chain remains the same or the situation worsens, this will more than likely decline to 10% or less in the coming years as more manufacturing capacity is built in other countries to meet demand.
Chip, business lobbies descend on China bill Politico Top executives from the world’s leading chipmakers are scattering across Washington beginning today as the industry presses lawmakers to shepherd tens of billions in funding for the industry across the finish line. Chief executives of Intel, Micron, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, who all sit on the board of directors at the Semiconductor Industry Association, are set to meet with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as well as Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). |
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CHINAEU Analysis Suggests China May Send Tech Hardware to Help Putin Bloomberg European Union officials suspect that China may be ready to supply semiconductors and other tech hardware to Russia as part of an effort to soften the impact of sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.
China’s Big Tech Firms Are Axing Thousands of Workers WSJ China’s biggest tech companies are conducting large-scale layoffs this year as they deal with an economic slowdown and Beijing’s regulatory pressure. |
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TRADEGermany calls for new talks on transatlantic trade deal Reuters Germany’s finance minister has called for fresh talks over a free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, a newspaper reported on Sunday, aiming to revive discussions halted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japan to Invest $42bn in India to Strengthen Economic Ties US News & World Report Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday said his country will invest $42 billion in India over the next five years in a deal that is expected to boost bilateral trade.
Quad Trade Ties Grow Despite Tensions Over Russia WSJ A security partnership forged to counter China’s expansion is helping to boost trade ties between India, Australia, Japan and the U.S., despite recent tensions over India’s relationship with Russia. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYHighly Selective Etch Rolls Out For Next-Gen Chips Semiconductor Engineering Several etch vendors are starting to ship next-generation selective etch tools, paving the way for new memory and logic devices.
The Resurrection Of Tellurium As An Elemental Two-Dimensional Semiconductor Semiconductor Engineering The graphene boom has triggered a widespread search for novel elemental van der Waals materials thanks to their simplicity for theoretical modeling and easy access for material growth. Group VI element tellurium is an unintentionally p-type doped narrow bandgap semiconductor featuring a one-dimensional chiral atomic structure which holds great promise for next-generation electronic, optoelectronic, and piezoelectric applications.
Improving Machine Learning-Based Modeling Of Semiconductor Devices By Data Self-Augmentation Semiconductor Engineering In the electronics industry, introducing Machine Learning (ML)-based techniques can enhance Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) methods. However, the performance of ML models is highly dependent on their training datasets. |
SIA NEWS
SIA Endorses FABS Act Introduced in House Press Release “Semiconductors form the nerve center of America’s economy and national security, and incentivizing domestic chip research, design, and manufacturing is a national priority,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “The FABS Act introduced today would incentivize semiconductor companies to manufacture and design more of the chips our country needs on U.S. shores, spurring private investments and creating American jobs. We strongly support enactment of the House bill and appreciate its inclusion of a credit for both manufacturing and design to help bolster the chip ecosystem in the United States. Coupled with funding the CHIPS Act, enactment of a tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing and design as set forth in the House’s FABS Act are parts of a complementary, holistic strategy, and both are needed to produce robust, predictable, and durable incentives to restore U.S. semiconductor leadership. We applaud all the bill co-sponsors for their leadership on this issue and urge leaders in Congress to swiftly enact the bill and fund the semiconductor manufacturing incentives and research provisions in the CHIPS Act.” |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETFABS Act introduced to US House of Representatives Electronics 360 The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) called the FABS Act an important complement to the manufacturing incentives and research investments already in place in the country, in addition to the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act. “Semiconductors form the nerve center of America’s economy and national security, and incentivizing domestic chip research, design and manufacturing is a national priority,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO of the SIA. “The FABS Act introduced today would incentivize semiconductor companies to manufacture and design more of the chips our country needs on U.S. shores, spurring private investments and creating American jobs.”
Why China Has U.S. Congress Focused on Computer Chips Bloomberg Quint A rare point of bipartisan consensus in Washington is the desire to spend more than $50 billion to bolster U.S. chip production. That’s a key part of bills pending in both houses of Congress intended to increase U.S. competitiveness with China. The bills are similar, but not identical, and differences on auxiliary issues threaten to stall their progress. |
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CHINAChinese carmakers developing auto chips DigiTimes Chinese carmakers have begun deploying resources in semiconductor development, as chip shortage continues to haunt the automotive industry. Chinese carmakers still rely heavily on imports of car chips, but they are now moving to build their own local semiconductor supply chain.
South China Morning Post China’s cyberspace watchdog has unveiled new draft rules that will make it harder for Big Tech firms like Tencent Holdings and ByteDance to profit from video gaming, live streaming and social media services targeted at the country’s 180 million internet users under the age of 18.
China says it will support Chinese IPOs abroad, calls for closure on tech crackdown CNBC China signaled support for Chinese stocks on Wednesday, after days of worries about U.S. delisting risks sent the stocks plunging in New York and Hong Kong. |
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TRADEU.S., Britain trade talks to start next week in Baltimore Reuters The United States and the United Kingdom will kick off trade talks next week, the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative (USTR) and the British government said on Wednesday.
UK has failed to demonstrate benefit of post-Brexit trade deals, MPs warn Financial Times
Malaysia confirms China-backed RCEP free trade pact comes into force, expects US$200 million boost South China Morning Post The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement entered into force in Malaysia from Friday, the country’s trade ministry said.
U.S.-South Korea trade deal grew exports but brought disappointments -U.S. trade chief Reuters U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Tuesday the decade-old U.S. Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) did much to expand auto and agricultural trade with South Korea, but suffered some difficulties in its implementation. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYScientists devise new technique to increase chip yield from semiconductor wafer Science Daily Scientists have developed a technique to create a highly uniform and scalable semiconductor wafer, paving the way to higher chip yield and more cost-efficient semiconductors.
Chiplets Enter The Supercomputer Race Semiconductor Engineering Several entities from various nations are racing each other to deliver and deploy chiplet-based exascale supercomputers, a new class of systems that are 1,000x faster than today’s supercomputers.
Researchers continue the drive towards flexible organic semiconductors Electropages Researchers have recently made more breakthroughs in developing flexible organic solar panels that could help usher in new wearable devices. What challenges do solar panel technologies face, what did the researchers achieve, and are wearable solar panels a good idea? |
SIA NEWS
White House Meeting Highlights Need for Investments in Domestic Semiconductor Technology Press Release “We applaud today’s White House meeting between President Biden, governors, and industry leaders, and we echo their unified call for swift government action to strengthen America’s semiconductor capabilities, U.S. manufacturing, and our supply chains. Semiconductors are foundational to the U.S. economy and to a range of manufacturing sectors in America. Reinforcing U.S.-based semiconductor production and innovation will help secure America’s supply chains for critical, chip-dependent products, boost the United States’ overall manufacturing footprint, and create hundreds of thousands of American jobs. It’s time to fund the semiconductor manufacturing and research provisions in the CHIPS Act and enact a version of the FABS Act that includes an investment tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing and design. Getting these initiatives across the goal line will strengthen U.S. leadership in this foundational technology and help America avert future chip shortages.”
Rina Pal-Goetzen Joins SIA as Director of Global Policy Press Release The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced Rina Pal-Goetzen has joined the association as director of global policy. In this role, Pal-Goetzen will work with U.S. and global policymakers and industry stakeholders to advance the association’s international trade policy agenda. |
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RUSSIA/UKRAINERussian chip makers face uncertainty as war drags on The Register The Semiconductor Industry Association has said it doesn’t expect the export ban of semiconductors to Russia to impact the chip market in the long run. Russia made just less than 0.1 percent of global chip purchases, SIA said, citing numbers from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization.
Russia’s AI industry faces collapse Politico Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2017 proclamation that whichever country leads in artificial intelligence “will be the ruler of the world” may come back to haunt him. New technology sanctions, an exodus of foreign tech companies and an impending brain drain could soon conspire to cause Russia’s AI ecosystem to shrivel.
EXCLUSIVE Russia’s attack on Ukraine halts half of world’s neon output for chips Reuters Ukraine’s two leading suppliers of neon, which produce about half the world’s supply of the key ingredient for making chips, have halted their operations as Moscow has sharpened its attack on the country, threatening to raise prices and aggravate the semiconductor shortage.
Biden Set to Call for End of Russia’s Preferred Trade Status Bloomberg President Joe Biden on Friday is set to call for an end of normal trade relations with Russia, clearing the way for increased tariffs on Russian imports, according to people familiar with the matter. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETPOLITICO Playbook PM: Biden’s warning to Americans: ‘It’s going to cost us as well’ Politico Rina Pal-Goetzen is joining the Semiconductor Industry Association as director of global policy. She most recently was general counsel of 3D printed microTEC.
January semi sales up 26.8% y-o-y Electronics Weekly “Following record sales and units shipped in 2021, global semiconductor sales remained strong at the beginning of 2022, reaching the second-highest-ever monthly total in January,” says SIA CEO John Neuffer, “global sales in January increased by more than 20% for the tenth consecutive month on a year-to-year basis, and sales into the Americas increased by 40.2% year-to-year in January to lead all regional markets.”
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on the Chip Shortage, Supply Chain Issues, and Russian Sanctions TIME Today, I spoke with United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo about an ongoing shortage of different sort of chip: the kind that power your laptops, cell phones, vehicles, video game consoles, electronic medical equipment, and more.
Russian sanctions drive renewed focus on Asia semiconductor reliance Axios In a letter Tuesday, some 140 lawmakers, led by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas), urged congressional leaders to move quickly on the $52 billion for semiconductors on its own.
Gov. Whitmer Travels To White House, Rallies For Passage Of CHIPS Act CBS Detroit Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer traveled to the White House on Wednesday to seek support and funding for legislation that will boost semiconductor chip production. Whitmer spoke with President Joe Biden about funding to pass the Creating Helpful Incentive For Production of Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act. |
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CHINAChinese firms that aid Russia may be cut off from U.S. equipment -commerce secretary Reuters Chinese companies that defy U.S. restrictions against exporting to Russia may be cut off from American equipment and software they need to make their products, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told the New York Times.
China Tech Selloff Deepens as U.S. Delisting Fears Alarm Traders Bloomberg Chinese tech shares slid, tracking overnight weakness in their U.S. peers, as renewed regulatory concerns unnerved investors still reeling from wild price swings this week. |
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TRADEKorea Calls for Global Network to Cushion Supply Chain Hit Bloomberg South Korea’s top trade official says the world should set up a framework that allows businesses to stay resilient in the face of a crisis like the war in Ukraine that disrupts global supply chains.
Australia, India move toward free trade pact to cut China dependence Nikkei Asia Australia and India are expected to reach an interim free trade agreement as early as this month as both countries seek to diversify trade to cut their economic dependence on China. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYPinpointing The Dominant Component Of Contact Resistance To Atomically Thin Semiconductors Semiconductor Engineering Achieving good electrical contacts is one of the major challenges in realizing devices based on atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors.
Digital Twin For Secure Semiconductor Lifecycle Management: Prospects And Applications Semiconductor Engineering The expansive globalization of the semiconductor supply chain has introduced numerous untrusted entities into different stages of a device’s lifecycle, enabling them to compromise its security.
Enabling Silicon Lifecycle Solutions Semiconductor Engineering The concepts of product lifecycle management (PLM) should be familiar, although the semiconductor industry has yet to adopt a system for managing the entire lifecycle of a product from inception through design, realization, deployment, and field service, right through to end-of-life activities such as final disposal. |
SIA NEWS
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 26.8% Year-to-Year in January Press Release “Following record sales and units shipped in 2021, global semiconductor sales remained strong at the beginning of 2022, reaching the second-highest-ever monthly total in January,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Global sales in January increased by more than 20% for the tenth consecutive month on a year-to-year basis, and sales into the Americas increased by 40.2% year-to-year in January to lead all regional markets.”
SIA Echoes President Biden’s Call for Enactment of Investments in Semiconductor Technology Press Release “We appreciate President Biden’s continued strong support for swift enactment of competitiveness legislation containing $52 billion to incentivize semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing in the United States. These CHIPS Act investments have broad, bipartisan support from members of Congress, America’s governors and mayors, national security experts, business leaders, and the American public. Funding the CHIPS Act will spur hundreds of billions of dollars in private investments, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and help secure America’s supply of semiconductors for many years to come. We also urge swift enactment of a strengthened FABS Act that includes tax credits for semiconductor manufacturing and design to complement the CHIPS funding as part of a holistic, robust strategy for U.S. semiconductor leadership. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETBiden calls for CHIPS Act passage during SOTU Electronics 360 John Neuffer, president and CEO of the SIA, released a statement calling on Congress to finalize the CHIPS for America Act and thanked Biden for his strong support for the competitiveness legislation. “These CHIPS Act investments have broad, bipartisan support from members of Congress, America’s governors and mayors, national security experts, business leaders, and the American public,” Neuffer said. “Funding the CHIPS Act will spur hundreds of billions of dollars in private investments, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and help secure America’s supply of semiconductors for many years to come. We also urge swift enactment of a strengthened FABS Act that includes tax credits for semiconductor manufacturing and design to complement the CHIPS funding as part of a holistic, robust strategy for U.S. semiconductor leadership.”
What Biden will say about tech at the State of the Union Protocol The big U.S. science and technology package has already passed both the House and the Senate in the form of the America Competes Act and the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, respectively. Biden is still waiting for Congress to harmonize the two and send it to his desk. On Tuesday, he’ll call on Congress to do that.
Canada to invest C$240 mln to develop semiconductor industry Reuters Canada will invest a total of C$240 million ($189 million) into its semiconductor industry to bolster manufacturing and research of chips that are crucial to national security and technological advancement, a federal minister said on Monday.
Italy Earmarks $4.4 Billion to Boost Semiconductor Industry Bloomberg Italy will invest over 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) to develop the domestic semiconductor industry, as it seeks to support companies transitioning to greener technologies.
Major corporations make last-ditch push for R&D tax break Roll Call Some of the largest U.S. companies are pressing congressional leaders to restore a more generous tax break for research and development in the delayed spending package for fiscal 2022. |
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RUSSIA/UKRAINERussia’s War in Ukraine Could Spur Another Global Chip Shortage WIRED On Thursday morning, explosions rocked at least seven cities in Ukraine, heralding the start of a full-scale Russian invasion. Among Putin’s first targets was Odesa, a seaside city huddled around the Black Sea, and one of the country’s busiest ports. But it is also home to a little-known company called Cryoin, which plays a big role in the global production of semiconductors.
Chip sanctions aim for Russia’s military and its tech industry hopes Financial Times The US has for years used the power of the dollar to cut adversaries off from global finance. Now, it is using the prevalence of American technology to cut Russia off from global chip supplies. |
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CHINAAs U.S. and European businesses cut ties with Russia, Chinese tech firms remain silent CNBC American and European firms have been cutting ties with Russia or at least reducing their business in the country since it invaded Ukraine, but Chinese technology businesses have remained relatively quiet.
South China Morning Post Neil Shen, China’s top venture capitalist, has made suggestions for investment to help the Chinese government boost technologies that would fight climate change and build digital infrastructure in a proposal submitted ahead of the “two sessions”, China’s biggest annual political event.
Huawei’s competitor to Tesla electric cars is set to hit China’s streets on Saturday CNBC The first electric car with Huawei’s HarmonyOS operating system is set to begin deliveries at a ceremony on Saturday in Shanghai, according to an announcement on social media. |
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TRADEUK and New Zealand sign free trade deal The Guardian Britain and New Zealand have signed a free trade deal, which the UK government said would boost bilateral trade by 60% by eliminating tariffs, cutting red tape and enabling freer movement of professional workers.
UK steps back from suspending Northern Ireland trade deal Financial Times Boris Johnson is unlikely to trigger Article 16 proceedings against the EU over the controversial Northern Ireland protocol ahead of May’s Stormont elections due to the war in Ukraine. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYSurprising semiconductor properties revealed with innovative new method Phys.Org A research team probing the properties of a semiconductor combined with a novel thin oxide film have observed a surprising new source of conductivity from oxygen atoms trapped inside.
Engineering 2D semiconductors with built-in memory functions Phys.Org A team of researchers at The University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has demonstrated that slightly twisted 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) display room-temperature ferroelectricity.
2D Semiconductors Make Progress, But Slowly Semiconductor Engineering In recent years, 2D semiconductors have emerged as a leading potential solution to the problem of channel control in highly scaled transistors. As devices shrink, the channel thickness should shrink proportionally.
Machine Learning Showing Up As Silicon IP Semiconductor Engineering New machine-learning (ML) architectures continue to appear. Up to now, each new offering has been implemented in a chip for sale, to be placed alongside host processors, memory, and other chips on an accelerator board. But over time, more of this technology could be sold as IP that can be integrated into a system-on-chip (SoC). |
SIA NEWS
SIA Statement on Sanctions on Russia SIA Statement The U.S. semiconductor industry is fully committed to complying with the new export control rules announced today in response to the deeply disturbing events unfolding in Ukraine. We are still reviewing the new rules to determine their impact on our industry. While the impact of the new rules to Russia could be significant, Russia is not a significant direct consumer of semiconductors, accounting for less than 0.1% of global chip purchases, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization. The broader Russian ICT market totaled only about $50.3 billion out of the $4.47 trillion global market, according to 2021 IDC data. In addition, the semiconductor industry has a diverse set of suppliers of key materials and gases, so we do not believe there are immediate supply disruption risks related to Russia and Ukraine. |
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RUSSIA SANCTIONSU.S. Clamps Export Controls on Russia to Limit Access to Chips, Other Technology Wall Street Journal The chief executive of the Semiconductor Industry Association, John Neuffer, said in a statement that his group is still reviewing the new rules to determine their impact on the chip industry. He said that, “while the impact of the new rules to Russia could be significant, Russia is not a significant direct consumer of semiconductors, accounting for less than 0.1% of global chip purchases.”
U.S. announces sweeping restrictions on technological exports to Russia New York Times John Neuffer, the president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents the world’s major chipmakers, said that the industry was still evaluating the potential impact of the rules. But Russia, he said, was not a significant direct consumer of chips or of information technology equipment.
Chipmakers Downplay Fears Ukraine Crisis Will Worsen Shortages Bloomberg Russia is a small market for the chip industry and its invasion of Ukraine doesn’t represent a threat to chip supply, the Semiconductor Industry Association said Thursday. U.S. and allied sanctions against Russia also are unlikely to have a significant effect on industry sales, the group said. “While the impact of the new rules to Russia could be significant, Russia is not a significant direct consumer of semiconductors, accounting for less than 0.1% of global chip purchases,” SIA Chief Executive Officer John Neuffer said in a statement. “In addition, the semiconductor industry has a diverse set of suppliers of key materials and gases, so we do not believe there are immediate supply disruption risks related to Russia and Ukraine.”
Washington Post The semiconductor industry, which could have lobbied hard against the export controls, issued a statement Thursday saying it is “fully committed” to complying with the new rules. “While the impact of the new rules to Russia could be significant,” SIA President and CEO John Neuffer said, “Russia is not a significant direct consumer of semiconductors.”
Fortune While the embargo could be devastating for Russia, most global suppliers might hardly notice the cost of compliance. According to the CEO of the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), John Neuffer, “Russia is not a significant direct consumer of semiconductors.” According to the SIA, Russia only accounts for 0.1% of global chip purchases. Research firm IDC estimates the Russian chip market is worth $50 billion in trade out of a $4.5 trillion global industry.
How US Sanctions Will Crimp Russia’s Tech Sector Wired According to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization, Russia accounts for less than 0.1 percent of global chip purchases. “While the impact of the new rules to Russia could be significant, Russia is not a significant direct consumer of semiconductors,” says John Neuffer, CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, a body representing US chip firms.
SIA: US chipmakers fully committed to Russian sanctions Electronics360 The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) issued a statement regarding the new export control rules announced by the Biden Administration in response to the Russian incursion into Ukraine. SIA represents 99% of the U.S. semiconductor industry by revenue and nearly two-thirds of non-U.S. chip firms. According to John Neuffer, president and CEO of the SIA, the U.S. semiconductor industry is fully committed to complying with the Biden Administration’s export control rules regarding technology shipments to Russia. “We are still reviewing the new rules to determine their impact on our industry,” Neuffer said. “While the impact of the new rules to Russia could be significant, Russia is not a significant direct consumer of semiconductors, accounting for less than 0.1% of global chip purchases, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization.” |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETU.S. governors urge swift action on $52 billion chip funding bill Reuters A bipartisan group of 22 governors Thursday urged leaders in Congress to move quickly to finalize $52 billion in government funding to subsidize the production of semiconductor chips.
Biden announces new investments in mineral production to address supply chain shortages CNN President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced new investments in the domestic production of minerals and materials crucial to creating a wide array of technological devices, including computers, smartphones, batteries, household appliances and vehicles.
India Gets $20 Billion in Investment Proposals for Chip Production Bloomberg India has received proposals worth $20.5 billion from five companies to manufacture semiconductor fabs and display fabs locally, according to a government statement. |
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CHINAChinese chip companies raised a record $11 billion in 2021 Protocol Despite U.S. chip sanctions on China throughout 2021, China’s chip companies — mostly startups — raised a record $10.8 billion in a booming market driven by a global chip shortage.
South China Morning Post Snagged on trade disputes with key partners, China is expected to focus this year largely on multilateral agreements and its own hi-tech development for sustained economic growth. |
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TRADEBritain’s CPTPP progress holds few clues for outcome of Beijing, Taiwan bids, analysts say South China Morning Post While Britain is on the cusp of joining the world’s largest trade bloc, it will be a long way before two other major applicants, Beijing and Taiwan, are able to say the same, according to trade experts.
U.S. considers expelling Nicaragua from trade pact over crackdowns NBC The Biden administration is considering trying to expel Nicaragua from a lucrative regional free trade pact — or allocate its valuable sugar quota to another country in Central America — to retaliate against President Daniel Ortega’s crackdown on his opponents, according to a U.S. official. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYTransistors Reach Tipping Point At 3nm Semiconductor Engineering The semiconductor industry is making its first major change in a new transistor type in more than a decade, moving toward a next-generation structure called gate-all-around (GAA) FETs. |
SIA NEWS
Press Release The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) — along with a broad coalition of 20 other tech, auto, medical, defense, and other business and labor groups — today in a letter urged Congress to immediately enact $52 billion to fund the CHIPS Act and to enact a strengthened FABS Act to bolster domestic semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing. The letter’s signatories represent major sectors of the American economy and millions of U.S. workers.
Press Release The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced global semiconductor industry sales totaled $555.9 billion in 2021, the highest-ever annual total and an increase of 26.2% compared to the 2020 total of $440.4 billion.
AdvaMed, Semiconductor Industry Association Convene Roundtable on Supply Chain Issues Press Release Last week, AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker and Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) President and CEO John Neuffer hosted a joint roundtable discussion that included dozens of industry leaders and supply chain executives from SIA and AdvaMed member companies, as well as senior officials from the Department of Commerce. The participants discussed ongoing supply chain issues for both the semiconductor and medical technology industries and how the two industries can work together to limit the effects of the chip shortage. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETGlobal semiconductor sales top half a trillion dollars for first time as chip production gets boost CNBC “In 2021, amid the ongoing global chip shortage, semiconductor companies substantially ramped up production to unprecedented levels to address persistently high demand, resulting in record chip sales and units shipped,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO.
Global chip sales hit record in 2021, will grow 8.8% in 2022 -SIA Reuters “It’s still really trending very strongly towards increased demand. We’re just not going to get this kind of slingshot effect that we had in the pandemic,” said SIA CEO John Neuffer of the much slower growth projected for 2022.
Fortune Just when it appeared that the global supply shortage of semiconductors might soon begin to ease, the prospect of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is casting another ominous cloud over the sector.
Commerce Secretary Urges Chips Act Passing or U.S. Faces ‘National Emergency’ Broadband Breakfast Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday that the country is staring down a “national emergency” if it doesn’t get funding approved to begin ramping up manufacturing of semiconductors domestically. “We are in a dangerous situation and there is one solution: make chips in America, and it’s not going to happen until the CHIPS Act gets passed,” Raimondo told Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, founders of Punchbowl News, which held the event.
Who will build U.S.-made microchips? Politico The U.S.’ share of global chip manufacturing is just 12 percent — down from 37 percent in 1990. The Semiconductor Industry Association, one of the industry’s top lobbyists in Washington, told the National Institute of Standards and Technology that a limited supply of U.S. workers with advanced STEM degrees, a lack of academic programs supporting emerging technologies and competition with other tech sectors are all hurdles to current onshoring efforts.
How to Build American Science Back Better WSJ The U.S. Congress agrees that America needs to compete with China. Two recent bills—the House of Representatives’ America Competes Act and the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act—both take aim at China’s rising scientific heft by increasing federal funding for research, semiconductor plants and a smorgasbord of other programs by more than $200 billion. |
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CHINANo reversal on China’s tech crackdown in sight as Xi calls for more work on laws CNBC Chinese President Xi Jinping told top leaders to speed up work on new laws for the technology sector during a speech in early December, according to the Chinese Communist Party’s bimonthly journal published Wednesday.
EU accuses China of ‘power grab’ over smartphone technology licensing Financial Times The EU is taking China to the World Trade Organization for alleged patent infringements that are costing companies billions of euros, as part of what officials in Brussels claim is a “power grab” by Beijing to set smartphone technology licensing rates.
China adds more companies to an industry body designed to develop the country’s metaverse CNBC A Chinese industry body designed to develop the country’s metaverse applications has added a new batch of companies as it pushes ahead with the latest technology craze. The metaverse does not have a solid definition yet, but often refers to technologies like virtual reality and the idea that people may be playing and living in virtual worlds. |
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TRADEU.S. risks blowback over Russia chip sanctions Politico The Biden administration is widely expected to impose unprecedented — and potentially devastating — technology and financial sanctions against Russia should the Kremlin move forward with an invasion of Ukraine, with the White House specifically aiming to choke off its supplies of cutting-edge microchips.
UAE and India sign free trade deal Financial Times The United Arab Emirates and India have signed a free trade deal that is expected to double bilateral non-oil trade to $100bn within five years as the Gulf state ramps up its economic partnership with its second-largest trade partner.
Government forced to seek state-by-state US trade ties after Biden rejects post-Brexit deal Independent Boris Johnson’s government is seeking a series of “mini” agreements with individual US states after Joe Biden poured cold water on the prospect of a free trade deal with the UK.
EU makes US$170 billion play to rival China in Africa. But where is the money coming from? South China Morning Post The European Union made a play to rival China in Africa, announcing a €150 billion (US$170.5 billion) financing package for projects and development on the continent on Friday after a two-day summit with the African Union in Brussels. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYSilicon-Based Power Semis Face Challenges Semiconductor Engineering Suppliers of power semiconductors continue to develop and ship devices based on traditional silicon technology, but silicon is nearing its limits and faces increased competition from technologies like GaN and SiC.
Technology Advances, Shortages Seen For Wire Bonders Semiconductor Engineering A surge in demand for IC packages is causing long lead times for wire bonders, which are used to assemble three-fourths of the world’s packages. The wire bonder market doubled last year, alongside advanced packaging’s rise. |
SIA NEWSSIA Launches Semiconductor Data Dashboard Blog Post The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today launched a new Semiconductor Unit Sales Dashboard to provide regularly updated, publicly available sales data for a range of semiconductor products. Amid the ongoing global chip shortage, the Dashboard provides information to industry, government stakeholders, and the public at large about unit sales of semiconductors. Dashboard data is provided on a three-month moving average and will be updated on a monthly basis. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETHow to Keep Up in the Economic Arms Race? WSJ – Letter to the Editor by John Neuffer America won’t maintain its competitive edge by beating a retreat in semiconductors. It’ll do it by investing to ensure more of the chips the country needs are researched, designed and manufactured on U.S. shores.
US semiconductor, steel sectors laud passage of COMPETES Act S&P Global “House passage of CHIPS Act investments is a significant step toward strengthening America’s leadership in semiconductors, which are foundational to our economy, national security, and global leadership in the transformative technologies of now and the future,” SIA CEO John Neuffer said in a separate statement.
House of Representatives Passes Chips Funding Bill Industry Week According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the CHIPs Act, once passed into law, will provide $52 billion in R&D and production funding for semiconductor companies in the U.S. $2 billion of the funding will be set aside to fund “legacy chip” production, to ensure a steady supply of the semiconductors used in automotive manufacturing.
U.S. House backs sweeping China competition bill as Olympics start Reuters Raimondo said companies had told the administration that without the chips funding they would build manufacturing plants outside the United States. The Semiconductor Industry Association praised the bill.
EU launches Chips Act industrial plan Politico The European Commission Tuesday launched a multiyear, large-scale investment plan for its microchips sector and presented new powers to secure chips in times of crisis, in an effort to “make Europe a leader in this market,” its President Ursula von der Leyen said. |
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CHIP SHORTAGEKey Supplier of Wafers for Chips Has Sold Out Through 2026 Bloomberg Sumco Corp., a key supplier of silicon wafers for the semiconductor industry, said it has already sold out its production capacity through 2026, a sign shortages in the industry may not abate for years.
Bosch CEO expects chip shortage to ease, hopes for return to normal by 2023 Reuters Bosch (ROBG.UL) CEO Stefan Hartung expects the chip shortage to lessen significantly in the second half of this year, he said at a press conference on Wednesday, adding he hoped businesses could operate as normal by 2023.
Used car prices at record high, chip shortage and high demand to blame ABC Listing prices for used cars in January were up 40% from the same time last year, according to Carfax. The company said the average listing for a used car is currently $28,000 – a record high. |
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CHINASouth China Morning Post China’s biggest semiconductor foundry has set aside a record amount for capacity expansion in 2022, after its profits more than doubled in 2021 thanks to strong demand for chips.
Economists say the worst of China’s regulatory crackdown is over CNBC The worst of China’s regulatory crackdown is over as Beijing shifts its focus to supporting growth, economists said. That does not mean the end of regulation — which has swept across internet technology, real estate and other industries in the last year — but signals fewer major changes ahead, the analysts said.
U.S. Promises to Make China Account for Trade-Deal Miss Bloomberg The U.S. will hold China to account for failing to meet the purchase targets pledged in trade deal inherited from the Trump administration, President Joe Biden’s commerce chief said. |
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TRADEAs Other Hot Spots Boil, U.S. Shows Its Foreign Policy Focus Is Asia NYT With Europe bracing for the possibility of its biggest ground war in decades, the American secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, took a 27-hour flight this week in the opposite direction.
UK and South Korea to sign deal to strengthen supply chains Reuters Britain and South Korea will on Monday sign an agreement to reinforce pandemic-damaged supply lines for key products like semiconductors, with trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan due to host her counterpart Yeo Han-koo in London.
US-EU data transfers on life support after French Google decision Politico Over a year after the EU’s top court annulled the Privacy Shield — an EU-U.S. data flows deal — in the so-called Schrems II decision, negotiators in Brussels and Washington have yet to strike a replacement agreement. The struggle: bridging an impasse over what it means to give Europeans the ability to legally challenge U.S. surveillance practices. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYSay Goodbye to the Memory Wall UVA Today In 1994, University of Virginia computer science professor emeritus William Wulf and his then-graduate student, Sally McKee, identified what would become a defining challenge in the field of computer science for decades to come. They called it the “memory wall.”
The Small But Mighty Semiconductor AZO Materials The small but mighty semiconductor has become an integral part of our high-tech world. Popularly known as microchips or integrated circuits (ICs), semiconductors are employed in a constantly increasing number of commercial, industrial and consumer products.
What Causes Semiconductor Aging? Semiconductor Engineering Semiconductor technology has evolved to the point where no one can assume chips will last forever. If not carefully considered, aging can shorten the life of an IC below the needs for an intended application.
Chemoselective Surface Trap-Mediated Metal Growth On Semiconductor Nanocrystals Semiconductor Engineering Highly chemoselective deposition of precious metals on semiconductor nanoheterostructures with a strong preference for cadmium and zinc telluride over the lighter chalcogenides. |
SIA NEWSSIA Commends House Passage of Critical Semiconductor Manufacturing and Research Investments Press Release “House passage of CHIPS Act investments is a significant step toward strengthening America’s leadership in semiconductors, which are foundational to our economy, national security, and global leadership in the transformative technologies of now and the future,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “We urge leaders in the House and Senate to work together promptly on a bipartisan, bicameral competitiveness bill containing CHIPS Act investments that can be passed by both chambers and signed into law by the president. Getting this legislation across the finish line will help strengthen U.S. chip production and innovation for many years to come.”
Press Release “Strong domestic semiconductor production, innovation, and supply chains are essential to reinforcing America’s technological edge and national security, as we work to out-innovate our competitors and maintain our leadership position. SIA joins defense and intelligence leaders in urging Congress to swiftly pass legislation investing in domestic chip manufacturing and research and send to the President’s desk to be signed into law. Doing so will fuel American leadership in the critical, chip-enabled technologies underpinning U.S. national security.”
Eric Breckenfeld, Robert Casanova Join SIA Team Press Release The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced Eric Breckenfeld has joined SIA as director of technology policy and Robert Casanova has joined the association as director of industry statistics and economic policy. Breckenfeld will direct SIA’s research and development, STEM education, and workforce development policy portfolio. Casanova will lead SIA’s industry statistics, data analysis, and market research work. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETHow America can avert the next chip shortage The Hill – OpEd by John Neuffer American semiconductor production has arrived at a watershed moment. Congress is on the verge of taking an historic step to fuel U.S. leadership in the research, design, and manufacturing of microchips, a technology at the heart of America’s economy, national security, and critical infrastructure. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA)—which the Senate has passed—would provide $52 billion in chip research investments and incentives for companies to establish manufacturing in the United States. New House legislation called the America COMPETES Act, expected to be considered this week, would do the same.
House Passes Bill Adding Billions to Research to Compete With China NYT The House on Friday passed legislation that would pour nearly $300 billion into scientific research and development and shore up domestic manufacturing, setting up a dispute with the Senate over how best to invest in scientific innovation to strengthen American competitiveness and counter China.
U.S. threatens Russia with a chip blockade Axios Biden administration officials say they will cut Russia off from its vital supply of semiconductors if it invades Ukraine — a broad sanction without precedent.
Showtime for Senate app store bill Politico The Semiconductor Industry Association announced the addition of Eric Breckenfeld and Robert Casanova as director of technology policy and director of industry statistics & economic policy, respectively.
EU Faces Funding, State Aid Hurdles With $48 Billion Chips Act Bloomberg The European Union wants its upcoming Chips Act to rival the U.S., but there are increasing doubts from member states and European lawmakers over how to make existing funds available, according to people familiar with the matter and documents seen by Bloomberg.
Japan to partner with U.S. on 6G standards for unmanned tech Nikkei Asia Japan and the U.S. will work together to lead the creation of international standards in unmanned technology that uses 6G communications, aiming to keep Chinese companies from dominating a field expected to include self-driving cars and fully automated factories.
Former U.S. security officials urge Congress to act on China legislation Reuters More than a dozen former senior U.S. national security officials have pressed congressional leaders to quickly pass legislation to boost technology funding, calling it “critical” to compete against China. |
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CHINATech war: Beijing will come out of decoupling worse off than the US, say Chinese academics South China Morning Post In a report published by Peking University’s Institute of International and Strategic Studies on Sunday, researchers compared the development of China and the US in areas of competition between the two, including information technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and space and aerospace technology. “While the current US administration has not yet determined the boundaries of decoupling, certain consensus has already been formed in key tech areas such as chip manufacturing and AI,” the researchers led by institute president Wang Jisi said.
China sets the pace in adoption of AI in healthcare technology Financial Times China has been quick to deploy a range of new technologies to relieve the burden on hospitals, care systems and families caring for the sick and elderly. But it is in medical artificial intelligence that the country’s early adoption of new solutions has been particularly notable, says Eric Topol, a US doctor and author of Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again. |
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TRADERussia and China hail “no limits” partnership to stand up to U.S. Reuters China and Russia proclaimed a deep strategic partnership on Friday to balance what they portrayed as the malign global influence of the United States as China’s President Xi Jinping hosted Russia’s Vladimir Putin on the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYNext-Gen 3D Chip/Packaging Race Begins Semiconductor Engineering The first wave of chips is hitting the market using a technology called hybrid bonding, setting the stage for a new and competitive era of 3D-based chip products and advanced packages.
The excellent heat dissipation properties of layered semiconductors revealed down to one layer Phys.org A study published in Advanced Materials reveals the thermal transport properties of ultrathin crystals of molybdenum diselenide, a two-dimensional material of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) family.
Resurrecting and improving a technique for detecting transistor defects Phys.org Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have revived and improved a once-reliable technique to identify and count defects in transistors, the building blocks of modern electronic devices such as smartphones and computers. |
SIA NEWSSIA Applauds Release of House Competitiveness Legislation Press Release “America’s economy, national security, and global competitiveness are built on semiconductors. We applaud the release in the House of Representatives of the America COMPETES Act, which includes $52 billion to fund incentives for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and investments in chip research. We appreciate the leadership of Speaker Pelosi in advancing this legislation in the House and look forward to the House and Senate negotiating compromise legislation that can be sent to the president for his signature. This critical funding will help ensure more of the chips Americans need are researched, designed, and manufactured on U.S. soil, strengthening our supply chains and creating new, high-paying American jobs across the country.” |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETChip Shortage Leaves U.S. Companies Dangerously Low on Semiconductors, Report Says WSJ John Neuffer, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said that the U.S. is in danger of falling behind other countries that are working to boost their domestic chip production. “The U.S. simply must level the global playing field to ensure more of the chips our country needs are researched, designed, and manufactured on U.S. soil,” he said.
Biden Looks to Intel’s U.S. Investment to Buoy His China Agenda NYT John Neuffer, the chief executive of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said Japan, South Korea, India and other countries were also introducing their own incentives in a bid to attract a strategically important industry. “The clock is ticking,” Mr. Neuffer said. “None of us are working in a vacuum. This is a global industry.”
House Democrats’ Bill Has $52B for US Chipmaking Facilities, R&D Engineering News-Record John Neuffer, the Semiconductor Industry Association’s president and CEO, said in a statement, “This critical funding will help ensure more of the chips Americans need are researched, designed and manufactured on U.S. soil, strengthening our supply chains and creating new, high-paying American jobs across the country.” The association said that the U.S. share of world semiconductor manufacturing capacity has fallen to 12% now, from 37% in 1990.
Commerce Dept. Survey Uncovers ‘Alarming’ Chip Shortages NYT he United States is facing an “alarming” shortage of semiconductors, a government survey of more than 150 companies that make and buy chips found; the situation is threatening American factory production and helping to fuel inflation, Gina M. Raimondo, the commerce secretary, said in an interview on Monday.
House debuts long-awaited response to Senate’s China competition, semiconductor bill CNBC The House of Representatives on Tuesday debuted a bill designed to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and competition with China, including $52 billion to support domestic chip research and production.
Report: Semiconductor industry expected to reach $600B in 2022 Venture Beat A new report by Deloitte predicts that companies will hit historic revenue highs this year, despite chip shortages and supply chain issues. For the first time, the industry is expected to earn over $600 billion globally, despite an anticipated slowing in growth. In 2022, growth is predicted to reach 10%, compared to 25% growth in 2021. |
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CHINAChina’s IC industry expected to have rapid growth China Daily China’s integrated circuit industry is expected to witness rapid growth in the next few years, industry experts said, while calling for increasing research and development input and strengthening independent innovation as part of the broader push to establish a relatively complete semiconductor industry chain system.
China’s Tsinghua Unigroup axes major memory chip projects Nikkei Asia China’s state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup has scrapped major memory chip projects in two cities as new investors push to turn around the debt-stricken company that has been left reeling from U.S. restrictions on its access to vital technology.
How the Computer Chip Shortage Could Incite a U.S. Conflict With China NYT The war game scenario conducted by a Washington think tank began with a sudden failure at three Taiwanese semiconductor foundries that make high-end computer chips used in such items as smartphones, automobiles and military equipment.
Another major Chinese tech firm expands use of the country’s digital currency CNBC Chinese food delivery and local services giant Meituan has expanded the way that China’s digital yuan can be used on its platform to make purchases. It is another sign of technology companies helping to promote China’s digital fiat currency as the country’s central bank looks to increase the number of people using it. |
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TRADEYou’re grounded, Russia! New U.S. sanctions could take Russia’s toys away. MSNBC If the administration goes forward with the plan being discussed, it would use “export control” — essentially an economic sanction in this case — to restrict Russia’s access to semiconductors, much like the Trump administration did to cripple the Chinese technology company Huawei in 2020.
Korean trade minister to visit US for talks on global supply chains The Korea Herald South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo will visit the United States from this week to discuss bilateral cooperation on global supply chains and other trade issues, the ministry said Tuesday.
UK could gain ‘first-mover’ advantage with India trade deal The Guardian Gains from a UK trade deal with India could be on a par with those from an agreement with the US but risks exposing the economy to tougher competition, a report says. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYTeam demonstrates molecular electronics sensors on a semiconductor chip Phys.Org The first molecular electronics chip has been developed, realizing a 50-year-old goal of integrating single molecules into circuits to achieve the ultimate scaling limits of Moore’s Law. Developed by Roswell Biotechnologies and a multi-disciplinary team of leading academic scientists, the chip uses single molecules as universal sensor elements in a circuit to create a programmable biosensor with real-time, single-molecule sensitivity and unlimited scalability in sensor pixel density. |
SIA NEWSSIA Encourages the United States and Europe to Collaborate on Export Control Policy Blog Post Overseas market access and a level global playing field are critical for U.S. leadership and competitiveness in semiconductors. The U.S. semiconductor industry relies on overseas markets for more than 80% of its sales, which U.S. firms re-invest into research and development efforts to out-innovate foreign competitors. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETBiden will tout $20 billion Intel factory as part of effort to address semiconductor shortages CNN According to an estimate from the Semiconductor Industry Association, the industry has announced nearly $80 billion in new investments in the US through 2025 since the beginning of 2021, including a $17 billion Samsung factory in Texas, $30 billion in investments from Texas Instruments and more.
Government, private sector need to work together to advance tech innovation and enhance security CNBC The U.S. has not kept up with other countries when it comes to investing in new technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, and this is having an impact on how the nation is viewed by other countries such as China, according to Leon Panetta, former U.S. Defense Secretary and one of the speakers at CNBC’s Technology Executive Council Summit in New York.
A Tech Revival for America’s Hometowns WSJ Americans should not have to leave their hometowns in order to seek opportunity or build wealth. But our modern, digital economy has concentrated its dynamism in a handful of mostly coastal cities, including San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Boston and Austin.
Schumer, top Democrats push $250 billion computer chip investment bill Times Union As the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates supply chain backlogs and global computer chip shortages, Democratic leaders in Congress as well as President Joe Biden want Congress to fast track a $250 billion bill to develop American independence from China and other competitors in chip manufacturing. Roughly 12 percent of the world’s semiconductors are manufactured in the United States, down from 37 percent in 1990, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. |
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CHINAChinese Semiconductor Industry Continuing to Grow Business Korea The U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association said in its recent report that Chinese companies’ share in the global semiconductor market is likely to rise from 9 percent to 17 percent from 2020 to 2024. “The scale of the Chinese semiconductor sector is estimated to reach US$116 billion in 2024 by showing an average annual growth of 30 percent from this year to 2024,” it said, adding, “On the other hand, the same sector of South Korea is likely to remain stagnant in that period and South Korean semiconductor companies’ global market share is likely to change little from 20 percent or so.”
China is still ‘three or four generations’ away from developing latest semiconductor tech, IDC says CNBC Even as China spends billions to build up its domestic semiconductor sector, it is still some time away from achieving the capabilities needed to produce cutting edge chips, an analyst said on Wednesday.
South China Morning Post A report issued by the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association earlier this month forecast that China’s chip industry could account for 17.4 per cent of global sales by 2024, up from 9 per cent in 2020, if current momentum is maintained.
China’s zero-Covid policy could deal another blow to global supply chains, Moody’s says CNBC Supply chain disruptions are being prolonged driven largely by China’s strict zero-Covid policy, according to an economist from Moody’s Analytics. The bottlenecks have lasted for about a year now but are expected to “materially ease in the early months of this year,” said Katrina Ell, a senior economist for Asia-Pacific at Moody’s Analytics. |
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TRADEChips and batteries: Japan to amp up supply chains with subsidies Nikkei Asia The Japanese government plans to set up a subsidy program to assist companies developing chips, large-capacity batteries and other key materials to ensure a steady supply of strategic products, Nikkei has learned.
U.S., UK launch talks to resolve steel, aluminum dispute; U.S. producers wary Reuters The United States and Britain on Wednesday agreed to start talks aimed at resolving their trade dispute over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, the countries said in a joint statement.
Fortune Big Tech, beware: EU lawmakers have seriously beefed up Europe’s incoming Digital Services Act (DSA)—the biggest update to the bloc’s online rule book in decades—and some of the sector’s most insidious “surveillance capitalism” practices could soon be banned. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYQuantum tech: Semiconductor ‘flipped’ to insulator above room temp Phys.Org A semiconducting material that performed a quantum “flip” from a conductor to an insulator above room temperature has been developed at the University of Michigan. It potentially brings the world closer to a new generation of quantum devices and ultra-efficient electronics.
Towards compact quantum computers thanks to topology Science Daily Researchers at PSI have compared the electron distribution below the oxide layer of two semiconductors. The investigation is part of an effort to develop particularly stable quantum bits — and thus, in turn, particularly efficient quantum computers.
New hybrid particle could lead to smaller magnetic semiconductors PC Gamer We’ve been seeing a lot of innovations in tiny tech recently. Little PCs are all the rage, and advancement in storage among other things is bringing real potential to portable PC gaming.
Future Challenges For Advanced Packaging Semiconductor Engineering OSATs are wrestling with a slew of issues, including warpage, thermal mismatch, heterogeneous integration, and thinner lines and spaces. Michael Kelly, vice president of advanced packaging development and integration at Amkor, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about advanced packaging and the challenges with the technology. What follows are excerpts of that discussion.
This 22-Year-Old Builds Chips in His Parents’ Garage WIRED With a collection of salvaged and homemade equipment, Zeloof produced a chip with 1,200 transistors. He had sliced up wafers of silicon, patterned them with microscopic designs using ultraviolet light, and dunked them in acid by hand, documenting the process on YouTube and his blog. “Maybe it’s overconfidence, but I have a mentality that another human figured it out, so I can too, even if maybe it takes me longer,” he says. |
INDUSTRY/MARKETZDNet According to a recent report carried out by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the US held 37% of the global chip manufacturing capacity in 1990 – a number that has gone down to 12% today, mostly due to the stagnation of government subsidies to help the industry prosper.
UK car production plummets to lowest level since 1956 amid chip shortage, worker absences CNBC U.K. car production plummeted to a new low last month, marking the worst July performance for the industry since 1956, according to a trade group.
Taiwan seeks again to reassure U.S. over tackling chip shortage Reuters Taiwan is doing all it can to address the global shortage of semiconductors, Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said on Tuesday after talks with the newly-appointed de facto U.S. ambassador in Taipei, a problem that has idled some auto production lines.
How Chips Will Change Health Care Semiconductor Engineering Jo De Boeck, chief strategy officer and executive vice president at imec, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about the intersection of medical and semiconductor technology, what’s changing in how chips are being used, and what will happen in the short term and long-term. What follows are excerpts of that discussion. |
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CHINAEXCLUSIVE Huawei gets U.S. approvals to buy auto chips, sparking blow back Reuters U.S. officials have approved license applications worth hundreds of millions of dollars for China’s blacklisted telecom company Huawei to buy chips for its growing auto component business, two people familiar with the matter said.
South China Morning Post BYD, the Warren Buffett-backed Chinese battery and carmaker, has put on hold the proposed spin off of its semiconductor unit, after the mainland regulator launched an investigation into the law firm advising on the deal.
China swoops on algorithms in latest tech clampdown Reuters China is seeking to tighten oversight of the algorithms technology companies use to drive their business, issuing far-reaching draft rules in Beijing’s latest move to crackdown on its internet sector. |
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TRADEU.S. and German relations at a crossroads as Afghanistan crisis unfolds CNBC After four years of tension under former President Donald Trump, the relationship between the United States and Germany was already at a crossroads. Now, experts say the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan could add fuel to the fire.
India’s trade deal with the US remains a non-starter for now. Here’s why The Print Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal last week ruled out any trade agreements with the United States in the near future pointing out that the world’s largest economy is not looking at any new trade agreements for now. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYModeling Chips From Atoms To Systems Semiconductor Engineering Complexity in hardware design is spilling over to other disciplines, including software, manufacturing, and new materials, creating issues for how to model more data at multiple abstraction levels.
A Peculiar State of Matter in Layers of Semiconductors Could Advance Quantum Computing SciTechDaily In a study that could benefit quantum computing, researchers show a superlattice embedded with nanodots may be immune from dissipating energy to the environment.
Glass Chip Is Key to New Quantum Architecture IEEE Spectrum Maryland-based IonQ has unveiled a new kind of chip in its quest to scale up its type of quantum computer technology. Its computers calculate using the quantum states of ions electromagnetically trapped in the space near a chip. |
INDUSTRY/MARKETChip Production Shifts Away From Traditional Strongholds Statista Data from Boston Consulting Group and the Semiconductor Industry Association shows how much chip production has moved away from its traditional strongholds – among them Japan – in the last decades. In 1990, Japan, Europe and the U.S. dominated semiconductor manufacturing, but with South Korea, Taiwan and finally Mainland China entering the market, the three initial manufacturing locations were reduced to a combined market share of only around 35 percent in 2020.
Intel CEO Pitches Pricey Chip Plants to Officials at Home and Abroad WSJ Intel Corp.’s chief executive and other board members met with Biden administration officials last month and held a rooftop reception near the White House to push a multibillion-dollar chip-investment plan, according to people familiar with the event.
COVID-fuelled semiconductor crunch chips away at carmakers Reuters In grim warnings this week, major carmakers including Toyota (7203.T) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) offered fresh evidence that the auto industry remains firmly in the grip of an ongoing semiconductor chip shortage that shows no sign of abating.
New Milestone for India in Chip R&D ELE Times The natural world is analog while computing is digital. Computers perceive the natural world through sensors, whose analog output is converted through a digitizer chip or an analog to digital converter (ADC). |
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CHINAChina passes major data protection law as regulatory scrutiny on tech sector intensifies CNBC China passed a major data protection law on Friday setting out tougher rules on how companies collect and handle their users’ information. The rules add to Beijing’s tightening of regulation, particularly around data, which could impact the way China’s technology giants operate. China’s semiconductor output hits record high in July as new capacity added to meet strong demand South China Morning Post China’s integrated circuit (IC) output rose more than 41.3 per cent year on year to reach 31.6 billion units in July, a new monthly record, on the back of strong demand for semiconductors and the addition of new production capacity, according to government data released on Monday.
The Register China had over half a billion 5G subscribers and over a million 5G base stations as of June 30, but the nation’s big three mobile carriers have warned of a slowdown. |
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TRADEChaos of Kabul exposes faultlines in UK-US special relationship Financial Times
UK aims to start trade talks with India this year Reuters The United Kingdom said on Tuesday it aims to start negotiations for a trade agreement with India by the end of the year. “We are currently in the pre-negotiation scoping phase of an FTA (free trade agreement), with the aim of starting negotiations by the end of this year,” a spokesperson for Britain’s Department for International Trade said. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYHome-grown semiconductors for faster, smaller electronics Science Daily ‘Growing’ electronic components directly onto a semiconductor block avoids messy, noisy oxidation scattering that slows and impedes electronic operation. A new study shows that the resulting high-mobility components are ideal candidates for high-frequency, ultra-small electronic devices, quantum dots, and for qubit applications in quantum computing.
Angstrom-Level Measurements With AFMs Semiconductor Engineering Competition is heating up in the atomic force microscopy (AFM) market, where several vendors are shipping new AFM systems that address various metrology challenges in packaging, semiconductors and other fields.
A peculiar state of matter in layers of semiconductors MIT News Scientists around the world are developing new hardware for quantum computers, a new type of device that could accelerate drug design, financial modeling, and weather prediction. These computers rely on qubits, bits of matter that can represent some combination of 1 and 0 simultaneously. The problem is that qubits are fickle, degrading into regular bits when interactions with surrounding matter interfere. But new research at MIT suggests a way to protect their states, using a phenomenon called many-body localization (MBL). |
SIA NEWSNVIDIA Founder and CEO Jensen Huang to Receive Semiconductor Industry’s Top Honor Press Release The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA and a trailblazer in building accelerated computing platforms, is the 2021 recipient of the industry’s highest honor, the Robert N. Noyce Award. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETNvidia’s Jensen Huang to get semiconductor industry’s highest honor Venture Beat Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will receive the chip industry’s highest honor, the Robert N. Noyce Award. SIA president and CEO John Neuffer said in a statement that Huang’s extraordinary vision and tireless execution have greatly strengthened the chip industry, revolutionized computing, and advanced artificial intelligence. He said Huang’s accomplishments have fueled countless innovations — from gaming to scientific computing to self-driving cars — and he continues to advance technologies that will transform the industry and the world.
Nvidia founder Huang honored with top semi industry award Fierce Electronics The founder of Nvidia has won the semiconductor industry’s top annual honor, the Robert Noyce Award, granted by the Semiconductor Industry Association. Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, is a “trailblazer in building accelerated computing platforms,” SIA said in a statement on Thursday. He will accept the award Nov. 18. The annual award goes to a leader who has made outstanding contributions to the semiconductor industry in technology or public policy.
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to Receive SIA’s 2021 Robert N. Noyce Award Tom’s Hardware The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced Thursday that Jensen Huang, chief executive and a co-founder of Nvidia, will receive the organization’s Robert N. Noyce Award. One of the industry’s most prestigious award is given to recognize Huang’s contributions to the semiconductor industry in general and computing acceleration in particular.
Chip Shortage Keeps CIOs and Other Tech Leaders Scrambling WSJ Companies inside and outside the tech sector are feeling the pinch of the global computer-chip shortage, which is stalling orders and raising prices on laptops, printers, smartphones, videoconferencing equipment and other work gear, corporate technology chiefs say. |
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CHINABusiness Groups Antsy About Stalled China Talks Politico In a letter Thursday to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, National Retail Federation, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Semiconductor Industry Association asserted “that Beijing had met ‘important benchmarks and commitments’ in the agreement, including opening markets to U.S. financial institutions and reducing some regulatory barriers to U.S. agricultural exports to China.”
China investors turn to renewables, chips, to avoid regulators’ attention Reuters Investors in China are turning to semiconductors, renewable energy and consumer-focused firms in the belief they offer safe-harbour from a blizzard of regulatory action that has battered confidence and forced funds to overhaul their portfolios.
CNBC Semiconductor veteran Ron Black, the former CEO of the U.K.’s Imagination Technologies which used to design chips for Apple, is among a consortium that is interested in buying the country’s largest chip plant back off Chinese-owned Nexperia. |
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TRADEBiden to Nominate María Pagán as U.S. Envoy to World Trade Organization WSJ President Biden is expected to nominate María Luisa Pagán, a longtime government trade negotiator, as a deputy U.S. trade representative and ambassador to the World Trade Organization, a critical role for accelerating the administration’s engagement with the multilateral organization that has faced multiple challenges in recent years.
In Africa, Biden finds a free trade zone he can embrace Nikkei Asia Eager to tap into a promising market while burnishing his administration’s credentials on free trade now that rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership looks as distant as ever, U.S. President Joe Biden appears ready to engage a new free trade zone in Africa. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYNew semiconductor device possibilities using black phosphorous Phys.Org Stress and strain, applied in just the right manner, can sometimes produce amazing results. That is what researchers, led by a team at UC Berkeley’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, discovered about an emerging semiconductor material—black phosphorous (BP)—used to make two types of optoelectronic devices: light emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodetectors.
Semiconductor Engineering Collecting data to determine the health of a chip throughout its lifecycle is becoming necessary as chips are used in more critical applications, but being able to access that data isn’t always so simple. It requires moving signals through a complex, sometimes unpredictable, and often hostile environment, which is a daunting challenge under the best of conditions.
Better Optimization For Many-Core AI Chips Semiconductor Engineering The rise of massively parallel computing has led to an explosion of silicon complexity, driven by the need to process data for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications. |
SIA NEWSSIA Calls for House Passage of Bipartisan Research Bills Press Release “The bipartisan NIST for the Future Act will help sharpen America’s edge in research and innovation. The U.S. semiconductor industry relies on foundational research at NIST and other federal research agencies to help create the technologies of the future. We thank the bill’s sponsors for their bipartisanship and leadership in promoting American innovation, and we call on all House members to approve this important legislation. As the legislation advances, we urge Congress to include $52 billion to fund the critical semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing initiatives in the CHIPS for America Act. Investing in domestic chip technology and innovation will help reinforce America’s economy, national security, and global competitiveness.”
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 29.2% Year-to-Year in June; Q2 Sales Up 8.3% Over Q1 Press Release “Second-quarter semiconductor sales were up significantly compared to Q2 of last year, increasing across all major product categories and in every major regional market,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Demand for semiconductors is projected to continue to rise substantially in the long term, as the world continues using chips to become smarter, greener, more productive, and better connected. We urge leaders in Washington to enact funding for the CHIPS for America Act so America can capture a larger share of increased semiconductor production and innovation in the years ahead.” |
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CHINAU.S. Businesses Urge Biden to Restart China Talks, Scrap Tariffs Bloomberg The groups include influential organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Semiconductor Industry Association. “Due to the tariffs, U.S. industries face increased costs to manufacture products and provide services domestically, making their exports of these products and services less competitive abroad,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by Bloomberg News. “The administration can take immediate steps to relieve increasing inflationary pressures and rising prices for all Americans” by reducing the import tariffs, they said.
Business Groups Call on Biden to Restart Trade Talks With China WSJ Nearly three dozen of the nation’s most influential business groups—representing retailers, chip makers, farmers and others—are calling on the Biden administration to restart negotiations with China and cut tariffs on imports, saying they are a drag on the U.S. economy. The trade groups include some of Washington’s most influential big business associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, the National Retail Federation, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Semiconductor Industry Association.
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