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
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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INDUSTRY/MARKET
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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CHINA
China 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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TRADE
U.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/TECHNOLOGY
Unexpected 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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INDUSTRY/MARKET
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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INDUSTRY/MARKET
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.
Antitrust crackdown on China’s tech sector could lead to greater competition, S&P says South China Morning Post Competition is likely to intensify among Chinese internet companies, such as Big Tech firms Alibaba Group Holding, JD.com and Tencent Holdings, as Beijing places greater scrutiny on mergers, overseas listings and anticompetitive behaviour in the technology sector, according to S&P Global Ratings. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETThe chip shortage is getting worse recode Chipmakers are already producing chips at their maximum capacity, according to Falan Yinug of the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade and lobbying group that represents the chip industry. “Chip production has, in fact, increased substantially, and more chips have shipped in recent months than ever before,” Yinug told Recode.
Global chip market’s second quarter up 29% year-on-year EE News Europe “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, CEO of the SIA, in a statement. “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.”
Global semiconductor sales increase 29.2% YoY in June Evertiq The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reports that worldwide sales of semiconductors were USD 44.5 billion in June 2021, an increase of 29.2% from the June 2020 total of USD 34.5 billion. Sales in June were 2.1% more than the May 2021 total of USD 43.6 billion. Sales during the second quarter of 2021 were USD 133.6 billion, an increase of 29.2% over the second quarter of 2020 and 8.3% more than the first quarter of 2021.
Global semiconductor sales increase 29.2% to US$44.5bil in June The Star “Second-quarter (Q2) semiconductor sales were up significantly compared to Q2 of last year, increasing across all major product categories and in every major regional market,” SIA president and CEO John Neuffer said. He added that the demand for semiconductors was projected to continue to rise substantially in the long term.
June semi sales up 29.2% y-o-y Electronics Weekly “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.”
Biden to Decide on Foreign Chipmaker Grants, Raimondo Says Bloomberg President Joe Biden will ultimately decide whether foreign chip producers will receive some of the $52 billion in funding planned to help ease the shortage that has hammered manufacturing, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.
Dingell proposes $2 billion in federal semiconductor spending The Detroit News The U.S. government would spend $2 billion on semiconductor chip manufacturing under a bill introduced Wednesday by Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn. The bill comes amid an ongoing semiconductor shortage that has forced shutdowns at auto plants and threatens to cut production by around 3.9 million vehicles globally by the end of the year, according to consulting firm AlixPartners, costing the industry around $110 billion in revenue.
Upton, Meijer send letter to House leadership urging action on semiconductor shortage Holland Sentinel A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging House leadership to take action on a bill which would prompt emergency spending on domestic semiconductor production. Lawmakers, including Reps. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, and Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids, sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy a letter Thursday urging the hearing of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America, or CHIPS Act.
Biden, in a Push to Phase Out Gas Cars, Tightens Pollution Rules NYT President Biden on Thursday announced a multistep strategy aimed at rapidly shifting Americans from gasoline-powered cars and trucks toward electric vehicles — a central part of his plan to reduce the pollution that is heating the planet. |
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TRADEU.S., EU eye steel tariff deal by Nov. 1 Politico The U.S and the EU hope to resolve a three-year-old dispute over former President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs by Nov. 1, and plan to hold the first ministerial-level meeting of the new transatlantic Trade and Technology Council in late September.
U.K. Closing In on Post-Brexit Trade Deal with New Zealand Bloomberg The U.K. and New Zealand are close to finalizing a trade accord that would go beyond the rollover agreement struck when Britain left the European Union. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYNew semiconductor cools computer chips Physics World A novel semiconducting material with high thermal conductivity can be integrated into high-power computer chips to cool them down and so improve their performance. The material, boron arsenide, is better at removing heat than the best thermal-management devices available today, according to the US-based researchers who developed it.
Designing Chips In A ‘Lawless’ Industry Semiconductor Engineering The guideposts for designing chips are disappearing or becoming less relevant. While engineers today have many more options for customizing a design, they have little direction about what works best for specific applications or what the return on investment will be for those efforts.
Astonishing diversity: Semiconductor nanoparticles form numerous structures Science Daily The structure adopted by lead sulphide nanoparticles changes surprisingly often as they assemble to form ordered superlattices. This is revealed by an experimental study that has been conducted at DESY’s X-ray source PETRA III. |
INDUSTRY/MARKETSenate’s semiconductor aid may be opening bid in global race Roll Call The report said U.S. manufacturers suffered from “structural disadvantages in the cost of two factors: labor and utilities.” Labor costs for chip fabrication, construction and operation are 40 percent higher than in Singapore and Taiwan, the report said. But Erik Pederson, director of government affairs at the Semiconductor Industry Association, said the higher U.S. labor cost had less impact on companies’ choice of manufacturing location than subsidies abroad. The association and Boston Consulting’s report said a $50 billion government incentive would attract 19 new U.S. chip fabrication facilities, or 10 more than would be the case without the money. The new facilities would raise U.S. capacity to 14 percent of the market by 2030 from 12 percent, the report said.
Lawmakers from Texas Search for Solutions with Semiconductor Shortage KTRH News Radio Erik Pederson, the Director of Government Affairs at the Semiconductor Industry Association, says solving the shortage is especially important for Texas. “The semiconductor industry employees about 44 thousand people in the entire state, and it’s our second largest state for employment. We have a number of manufacturing facilities,” Pederson said.
WSJ’s Gerald Seib on the global chip shortage and infrastructure bill CNBC – video The push to complete the nearly $1 trillion infrastructure bill is hitting a number of hurdles. Gearld Seib, Wall Street Journal columnist, joins ‘Power Lunch’ to discuss the bill, how to resolve the chip shortage and more.
The Really Critical Infrastructure Need: American-Made Semiconductors WSJ America today is dangerously reliant on foreign producers of semiconductors, crucial components of everything from phones to laptops to cars to smart appliances to much of the equipment in your local hospital. The U.S. share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity has dropped to 12% today from 37% in 1990, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group.
Semiconductor shortage hammering automakers, costing billions in lost production and sales The Washington Post The global shortage of computer chips continues to hammer automakers, forcing factory shutdowns and sapping sales and profits, with mixed views on when relief might arrive. Seventeen auto factories in North America and Europe have halted or reduced production in recent weeks over the scarcity of the tiny components, according to Seraph Consulting, which is advising automakers on the shortages. The shutdowns have affected plants in Michigan, Kentucky, Kansas, Mexico, Canada and Germany.
The Washington Post President Biden will today announce a major program outlining how critical industry sectors such as energy, transportation and agriculture should be protecting themselves against cyberattacks. |
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CHINAConsortium prepares bid to buy the UK’s biggest chip plant back off Chinese-owned Nexperia CNBC A consortium is raising money from banks and private equity investors to fund a potential bid for silicon wafer manufacturer Newport Wafer Fab, according to a person familiar with the situation who asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of the discussions.
The Technology 202: China is doing what the U.S. can’t seem to: regulate its tech giants The Washington Post While a slow-burning movement to rein in the U.S. tech industry plods through a gridlocked Congress and various agencies, China’s one-party government is acting swiftly — and harshly — to rein in its own tech titans.
South China Morning Post Shanghai is looking to take a greater role in China’s drive towards technological self-sufficiency, but a new plan unveiled last Wednesday to spur development of emerging industries has scant details, leaving companies waiting to see how serious the city is about its hi-tech ambitions.
China is still falling short of meeting an agreement to reduce its U.S. trade surplus CNBC China’s purchases of U.S. goods are still falling short of trade agreement levels, even as overall Chinese imports from the U.S. have surged. That’s according to analysis out Monday from the U.S.-based Peterson Institute for International Economics. |
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TRADEEU freezes legal steps against Britain after UK request for standstill Reuters The European Commission said on Tuesday it would not move to the next step of its legal action against Britain for unilaterally changing trading arrangements for Northern Ireland, in response to Britain’s request for a “standstill”.
Why would anyone trust Brexit Britain again? CNN Just seven months after singing its praises, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is attempting to rewrite the Brexit deal he signed with the European Union. It’s a risky move that will undermine Britain’s credibility as a trustworthy trading partner at the very moment that the UK government is seeking to forge economic alliances far beyond Europe to justify its “global Britain” sales pitch for Brexit, according to experts.
EU trade chief says US steel deal may fall short of removing all barriers Financial Times |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYChallenges For New AI Processor Architectures Semiconductor Engineering Investment money is flooding into the development of new AI processors for the data center, but the problems here are unique, the results are unpredictable, and the competition has deep pockets and very sticky products.
A Better Way to Measure Progress in Semiconductors IEEE Spectrum One of the most famous maxims in technology is, of course, Moore’s Law. For more than 55 years, the “Law” has described and predicted the shrinkage of transistors, as denoted by a set of roughly biannual waypoints called technology nodes. Like some physics-based doomsday clock, the node numbers have ticked down relentlessly over the decades as engineers managed to regularly double the number of transistors they could fit into the same patch of silicon.
Sweeping Changes Ahead For Systems Design Semiconductor Engineering Data centers are undergoing a fundamental change, shifting from standard processing models to more data-centric approaches based upon customized hardware, less movement of data, and more pooling of resources.
Thin, Fast, and Flexible Semiconductors IEEE Spectrum Amorphous silicon has long been the king of flat-panel displays. It began its reign in PC monitors and high-definition TV, then conquered netbooks, e-readers, and smartphones. No other substance was as suitable for the thin-film transistors that sit behind a display’s hundreds of thousands of pixels, turning each one on or off. |
SIA NEWSPress Release The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) – along with a broad coalition of 19 other tech, auto, medical, defense, and other business and labor groups – today in a letter urged Congress to enact funding for the semiconductor manufacturing, research, and design initiatives authorized in the “Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors” (CHIPS) for America Act. The Senate on June 8 approved $52 billion in funding for CHIPS as part of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), but the House has not yet approved such funding.
The 2021 SIA Databook: Your Source for Comprehensive Semiconductor Industry and Market Data Blog Post The 2021 SIA Databook is now available! Complete with tons of data on the global semiconductor market, the U.S. semiconductor industry, and the top end markets for semiconductors, the 2021 SIA Databook is your go-to comprehensive resource for all things semiconductors. |
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INDUSTRY/MARKETIndustry, Unions Urge Congress to Speed Semiconductor Bills Bloomberg Congress must act quickly to bolster semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., according to a letter from several trade groups and unions delivered to House and Senate leaders on Thursday. “Strengthening the U.S. position in semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing is a national priority,” reads the letter, organized by the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Chip, auto groups urge Congress to get moving on CHIPS Act Fierce Electronics SIA and SEMI have conducted one of their largest lobbying campaigns ever in connection with the legislation in recent months. SIA again noted in a statement timed with the letter that the U.S. share of global semi manufacturing capacity has decreased from 37% in 1990 to 12% today. “This is largely due to substantial subsidies offered by the governments of our global competitors, placing the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage in attracting new construction of fabs,” SIA said in a statement.
Semiconductor leaders urge action on industry funding IT Pro The Creating Helpful Incentives for the Production of Semiconductors (CHIPS) act, proposed last June and subsequently passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, legislated a 40% refundable tax credit for organizations building chip fabrication plants in the US. It also promised $10 billion in federal funds to match state incentives for factories and funding for Department of Defense research and development around semiconductors. However, that legislation didn’t provide the funds, which remain unavailable. The letter’s signatories, including the Semiconductor Industry Association, The Telecommunications Industry Association, and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation along with trade unions, warned that carving out the money is now a national priority.
Biden administration sounds the alarm on the semiconductor crisis FORTUNE U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has a lot on her mind, but one thing tops them all: semiconductors. Semiconductors, or computer chips, act as the brains that power our technological devices. These chips, now smaller than a stamp and thinner than a piece of hair, have revolutionized the modern world. Innovation in the field has led to smarter, faster, and smaller technology (think pacemakers, smartphones, solar energy, self-driving cars, laptops, airplanes, just about everything you use).
Car chip shortage to abate, smartphones could be next Reuters The semiconductor shortage that has gripped the world could last well into 2022 and hit smartphone production next, foreshadowing deficient supply for a range of appliances and industrial equipment, industry executives and an economist said. |
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CHINAU.S. and allies accuse China of global hacking spree Reuters The United States and its allies accused China on Monday of a global cyberespionage campaign, mustering an unusually broad coalition of countries for an initiative angrily rejected by Beijing.
Yellen Says China Trade Deal Has ‘Hurt American Consumers’ NYT Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen has cast doubt on the merits of the trade agreement between the United States and China, arguing that it has failed to address the most pressing disputes between the world’s two largest economies and warning that the tariffs that remain in place have harmed American consumers.
The door is closing on Chinese tech IPOs on Wall Street CNN Tough US laws requiring audits for foreign companies. A growing crackdown by Beijing that threatens to touch every part of the Chinese tech industry. A botched public offering by one of China’s most prominent tech firms.
China Tech Billionaires Ramp Up Donations as Beijing Cracks Down Bloomberg China’s tech tycoons are discovering their charitable side as they come under mounting regulatory scrutiny from Beijing. In the latest example, Xiaomi Corp. co-founder Lei Jun handed over $2.2 billion of shares in the smartphone maker to two foundations, according to filings to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. |
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TRADEAsia Digital Deal Raises Hope U.S. to Rejoin TPP Successor Bloomberg The U.S.’s plans for a digital trade agreement covering Indo-Pacific economies may be a step toward Washington rejoining a regional trade deal that President Donald Trump exited in 2017, Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan said.
U.S.-Asia Digital Pact Held Up by Squabble Among Biden Officials WSJ A skirmish between national security and trade officials in the Biden administration is hindering efforts to forge a digital-services pact with Asian countries, according to people involved in the talks.
UK’s Johnson urges EU to consider post-Brexit proposals seriously Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday to consider seriously Britain’s proposals to change what he called the “unsustainable” way a Brexit deal is governing trade with Northern Ireland. |
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RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGYInhibited nonradiative decay at all exciton densities in monolayer semiconductors Science Mag Most optoelectronic devices operate at high photocarrier densities, where all semiconductors suffer from enhanced nonradiative recombination. Nonradiative processes proportionately reduce photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY), a performance metric that directly dictates the maximum device efficiency.
These Bendy Plastic Chips Fit in Unusual Places WIRED Like anyone who designs computer chips for a living, James Myers is, at his core, a silicon guy. “Silicon is brilliant,” he says. Brilliant because it’s a natural semiconductor—able to both conduct electricity and act as an insulator, depending on the conditions—and because it can be engineered at small scale.
Semiconductor Engineering Several companies are implementing the chiplet model as a means to develop next-generation 3D-like chip designs, but this methodology still has a long way to go before it becomes mainstream for the rest of the industry. |
Taking Stock of China’s Semiconductor Industry
Blog Post
Just last month, China sent astronauts into space to board a new space station. Earlier this year, China landed a rover on Mars. Chinese state media reported that inside both China’s space station and the Mars rover were 100% indigenously designed-and-produced semiconductors, signaling China’s increasingly sophisticated microchip capabilities.
The US Needs to Get Back in the Business of Making Chips
WIRED
The number of companies making advanced chips has shrunk in recent years, and cutting-edge manufacturing has moved east. An April report by the Semiconductor Industry Association and Boston Consulting Group found that all chips made with the most advanced methods (known as sub-10 nanometer processes) are made in Asia—92 percent in Taiwan, the remaining 8 percent in South Korea.
Chipmakers Getting Serious About Integrated Photonics
Semiconductor Engineering
Integrating photonics into semiconductors is gaining traction, particularly in heterogeneous multi-die packages, as chipmakers search for new ways to overcome power limitations and deal with increasing volumes of data.
Computer chip shortages are driving demand for refurbished devices in Africa
Intelligent CIO
According to Kwirirai Rukowo, General Manager, Qrent, the chip shortage has affected the production of new laptops, desktops and tablets. “Currently, companies have been waiting for very long lead times for new stock to arrive and original equipment manufacturers (OEM’s) locally and globally cannot meet the demand. Qrent – part of the InnoVent group of companies, is bridging this gap through its stock of refurbished devices thereby enabling Business Continuity,” said Rukowo.
China is buying up chip firms in a push for semiconductor supremacy, says UK lawmaker
CNBC
A U.K. lawmaker believes China is using questionable methods to ensure it becomes a world leader in semiconductor technology. Iain Duncan Smith, a member of parliament and the former leader of the Conservative Party, told the U.K. Parliament on Thursday that China has identified semiconductor technology as a key area it wants to dominate globally.
China’s semiconductor output hits record high as Beijing boosts local production amid intensifying US-China tech war
South China Morning Post
China’s output of integrated circuits (IC) reached an all-time, single-month high in June as the country spares no effort to produce chips amid a severe global shortage of semiconductors, according to data released by the central government on Thursday.
China’s chip imports soar in June as manufacturers build up supply amid global shortage
South China Morning Post
China’s semiconductor imports continued to grow at a fast clip in June, meeting the country’s huge demand for integrated circuits (ICs) used in the production of smartphones, cars, computers and home appliances amid a lingering global chip shortage.
Chinese tech giants look to make business changes in a bid to preempt regulators
CNBC
Chinese technology giants are looking to make changes to their business models and working practices in order to preempt moves by regulators as authorities crackdown on the once free-wheeling sector.
Biden Team Weighs Digital Trade Deal to Counter China in Asia
Bloomberg
White House officials are discussing proposals for a digital trade agreement covering Indo-Pacific economies as the administration seeks ways to check China’s influence in the region, according to people familiar with the plans.
U.S., UK trade chiefs meet, agree to strengthen bilateral ties
Reuters
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and her British counterpart Liz Truss agreed to continue working to strengthen bilateral ties in a meeting in Washington on Tuesday, Tai’s office said in a statement. Tai and Truss agreed that their recent truce in a long-running trade dispute over aid for planemakers Airbus (AIR.PA) and Boeing (BA.N) creates a platform for “future collaboration on shared challenges, including those posed by the anti-competitive practices of China and other non-market economies.”
U.K. Trade Secretary Downplays Outlook for U.S. Trade Deal Soon
Bloomberg
The U.K.’s top trade negotiator said that the nation is focused on getting the “right deal” with the U.S. rather than clinching a quick one, downplaying hopes for an agreement anytime soon.
Semiconductor Crystals Tweaked to Realize Superior Properties for Electronics
AZO Nano
Scientists from Skoltech, together with their collaborators in the United States and Singapore, have developed a neural network that enables the tweaking of semiconductor crystals in a controlled way to achieve excellent properties for electronics.
Researchers develop flexible artificial skin with integrated transistors
ElectroPages
While many examples of flexible electronic circuits can be stretched and manipulated, none of these has proven to be practical. For example, flexible electronic circuits such as RFID tags commonly found on product packaging are actually flexible antenna traces connected to a ridged semiconductor.
Americans Embrace the Importance of Semiconductors to National Security
Blog Post
As Congress considers legislation that would fund domestic semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research initiatives, a new poll finds a strong majority of Americans understand the critical role semiconductors play in advancing U.S. national security. Two-thirds of Americans (66%) say having a strong semiconductor manufacturing base is either “very important” (45%) or “somewhat important” (21%) to national security, according the latest IBD/TIPP poll of U.S. adults.
Global Semiconductor Sales in May Up 26.2% Year-to-Year, 4.1% Month-to-Month
Press Release
“Global demand for semiconductors remained high in May, as sales increased both year-to-year and month-to-month across all major regional markets,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “The industry shipped more units on a three-month moving basis in May than during any previous month in the market’s history, indicating semiconductor production has ramped up significantly to address rising demand.”
Congress must help U.S. industry compete with China — even if it means a break with precedent
The Washington Post
The emerging bipartisan consensus for a more competitive posture toward China has taken legislative form: the Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, which passed the Senate by an impressive 68-to-32 margin on June 8.
Americans View Semiconductor Manufacturing As Vital To National Security
Investors Business Daily
As the U.S. government debates spending billions of taxpayer dollars to support domestic semiconductor chip production and research, public support appears strong for such efforts. That news is positive for semiconductor stocks. The latest IBD/TIPP poll found that 66% of U.S. adults think semiconductor manufacturing is important for national security.
Three months, 700 steps: Why it takes so long to produce a computer chip
The Washington Post
Many of the biggest facilities are in Taiwan, which now produces 20 percent of the world’s semiconductors and over 90 percent of the highest-tech chips, according to a report commissioned by the Semiconductor Industry Association, which calls itself the “voice of semiconductor industry.”
May chip sales up 26%
Electronics Weekly
“Global demand for semiconductors remained high in May, as sales increased both year-to-year and month-to-month across all major regional markets,” says SIA CEO John Neuffer, “the industry shipped more units on a three-month moving basis in May than during any previous month in the market’s history, indicating semiconductor production has ramped up significantly to address rising demand.”
China semiconductors: China Mobile and Apple supplier Luxshare jump on chip investment frenzy
South China Morning Post
China’s semiconductor investment frenzy has received a fresh boost after the country’s largest mobile carrier and a key supplier to Apple jumped on the bandwagon by setting up their own chip units, according to corporate registry information.
Chip shortage pushes China auto sales down 12.4% in June
Retuers
Auto sales in China fell 12.4% in June from the corresponding month a year earlier, industry data showed on Friday, as a global shortage of semiconductors hit autos production in the world’s biggest car market.
China Escalates Its Fight Against Big Tech
NYT
Tensions are growing between China and tech companies inside — and outside — its borders. China is cracking down on domestic tech giants with U.S. ties. On Sunday, Beijing officials ordered Didi, the ride-hailing app, to be removed from the country’s app stores over concerns about the handling of customer data, days after the company completed a blockbuster U.S. I.P.O.
Investors’ views on battered China tech sector after Didi probe
Reuters
Chinese tech firms tumbled on Thursday, the worst day for Hong Kong’s tech index in four months, as investors grew nervous about the widening ambit of a crackdown on the sector.
U.S. Worker-Aid Plan Is Casualty as Trade Deal Fast-Track Ends
Bloomberg
President Joe Biden’s pledge to refrain from pursuing new trade deals is leaving a key training and assistance program for workers — who the administration says are at the center of its agenda — without a clear path for renewal.
Kenya, America trade deal faces fresh hurdle in Congress
Business Daily
Negotiations for a free trade deal between Kenya and the United States face fresh hurdles after the expiry of a key legislative tool for getting faster Congress approval, dimming the prospects for its conclusion.
Brexit: Downing Street rejects EU’s estimate of divorce bill
BBC
Downing St has rejected the EU’s estimate of the UK’s post-Brexit divorce bill after new figures put the total debt at £40.8bn. The sum was published in the EU’s accounts for 2020, which also state that the UK should pay the EU £5.8bn this year.
Ultrathin semiconductors electrically connected to superconductors
Science Daily
Researchers have equipped an ultrathin semiconductor with superconducting contacts. These extremely thin materials with novel electronic and optical properties could pave the way for previously unimagined applications. Combined with superconductors, they are expected to give rise to new quantum phenomena and find use in quantum technology.
5G Chips Add Test Challenges
Semiconductor Engineering
The advent of chips supporting millimeter-wave (mmWave) 5G signals is creating a new set of design and testing challenges. Effects that could be ignored at lower frequencies are now important. Performing high-volume test of RF chips will require much more from automated test equipment (ATE) than is required for chips operating below 6 GHz.
Lower Power Chips: What To Watch Out For
Semiconductor Engineering
Low-power design in advanced nodes and advanced packaging is becoming a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary challenge, where a long list of issues need to be solved both individually and in the context of other issues.
SIA Calls for House Passage of Legislation to Advance U.S. Technology Leadership
Press Release
“This bipartisan legislation will help ensure the U.S. remains the global research and innovation leader, which will strengthen America’s economy, national security, and global competitiveness. The research initiatives authorized by this legislation will generate advances in a range of scientific fields and build the pipeline of talent needed to enhance U.S. technology competitiveness. The U.S. semiconductor industry relies on these advances as the foundation for creating the technologies of the future.”
SIA Applauds Bipartisan Agreement on Infrastructure Plan
Press Release
“The bipartisan infrastructure deal announced yesterday would modernize U.S. infrastructure and strengthen the U.S. economy, while also driving domestic demand for semiconductors through investments in key industries enabled by semiconductor technology, such as power generation and transmission, broadband, and electric vehicle infrastructure. We look forward to working with Congress and the administration to advance bipartisan infrastructure legislation.”
House Passes Its Version of U.S.-China Competitiveness Bills
Bloomberg
“As the legislation advances, we urge Congress to include $52 billion to fund the critical semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing initiatives” included in previous congressional legislation that was never funded, the Semiconductor Industry Association said in a statement.
House lawmakers consider bipartisan bills to advance tech R&D
FedScoop
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the bills, if passed, would strengthen America’s economy and national security. Commenting on the bills, SIA CEO John Neuffer said: “The U.S. semiconductor industry relies on these advances as the foundation for creating the technologies of the future.” “The research initiatives authorized by this legislation will generate advances in a range of scientific fields and build the pipeline of talent needed to enhance U.S. technology competitiveness,” he added. The lobbying chief also advocated for the inclusion of $52 billion in public funding for semiconductor research, design and manufacturing in the new legislation.
House Passes Bills to Support American Innovation, STEM Education
Tom’s Hardware
Lobbying groups like the Semiconductors in America Coalition (SIAC) lauded S.1260’s passing on June 8, which makes sense given its obvious financial motivations, and the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) called on the House to pass the bill as well. But the House has instead opted for distinct bills like H.R. 2225 and H.R. 3593.
America’s Lack Of Chips Is More Than A Blip
Forbes
The share of global semiconductor manufacturing on U.S. soil has eroded sharply over the last 20 years, from 37% to 12% — and the Semiconductor Industry Association expects it will fall to 10% by 2030. The costs of manufacturing chips in the U.S. are rising too high to be globally competitive: The 10-year cost of a new fab, the factory where semiconductors are produced, on U.S. soil is 30% higher than building the same fab in Taiwan or South Korea, and up to 50% higher than in China.
Thailand offers perks to draw semiconductor, digital investments
Reuters
Thailand has offered incentives to attract investment in the growing semiconductor, digital and packaging industries to meet rising global demand amid coronavirus outbreaks, the country’s investment agency said on Wednesday.
China winning race to manufacture semiconductor chips, Sen. Cornyn says
KXAN
America needs to think differently when it comes to boosting manufacturing of semiconductor chips, according to the senior Senator from Texas. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a roundtable discussion with tech leaders Monday that China dominated the semiconductor supply during the pandemic and America’s supply fell behind, causing supply chain problems. “What China is doing is they want to become the dominant economy, and the dominant superpower in the world, and that’s a vulnerability for the United States, both economically and from a national security standpoint,” Cornyn said.
China’s business ‘ecosystems’ are helping it win the global A.I. race
FORTUNE
China’s “Sputnik Moment” is what Kai-Fu Lee, author of the famous book AI Superpowers, likes to call it. Five years ago, when AlphaGo—an artificial intelligence–based program developed by DeepMind, a startup that Google acquired in 2014—defeated two of the world’s best human exponents of the board game Go, it came as an eye-opener to China and its A.I. community.
China semiconductor sector braces for Malaysia lockdown
DigiTimes
The nationwide lockdown in Malaysia was due to expire on the June but has now been extended indefinitely as the number of COVID cases continue climbing. The lockdown has rasied concerns about further constrants to global chip, as Malaysia is home to many semiconductor packaging and testing facilities.
Didi, the Chinese Ride-Hailing Giant, Makes Its Debut on Wall Street
NYT
Didi, the leading Chinese ride-hailing platform, made its Wall Street debut on Wednesday, capping a year in which ride-hailing and travel companies have struggled to overcome intermittent pandemic lockdowns.
U.S. Proposal for 15% Global Minimum Tax Wins Support From 130 Countries
NYT
An effort to push the most sweeping changes to the global tax system in a century gained significant momentum on Thursday when 130 nations agreed to a blueprint in which multinational corporations would pay an appropriate share of tax wherever they operate.
UK aims to gain TPP entry in 2022: trade secretary
Nikkei Asia
The U.K. wants to secure a place in the 11-member Trans-Pacific trade bloc, known as CPTTP, by the end of 2022, British International Trade Secretary Liz Truss told Nikkei, as the nation seeks economic opportunities after its exit from the European Union.
UK, Singapore launch talks on digital trade agreement
Reuters
Britain and Singapore will on Monday start negotiations on a new digital trade agreement that could remove barriers, part of London’s push to become what it calls a “global tech powerhouse” post-Brexit.
Hacks Are Prompting Calls For A Cyber Agreement, But Reaching One Would Be Tough
NPR
The recent ransomware attacks on the U.S. gas and meat industries have sparked renewed conversations about the possibility of an international cyber agreement that would set the ground rules for what is and isn’t permissible, and spell out sanctions for violators.
Challenges In Developing A New Inferencing Chip
Semiconductor Engineering
Cheng Wang, co-founder and senior vice president of software and engineering at Flex Logix, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to explain the process of bringing an inferencing accelerator chip to market, from bring-up, programming and partitioning to tradeoffs involving speed and customization.
Data Centers On Wheels
Semiconductor Engineering
Automotive architectures are evolving quickly from domain-based to zonal, leveraging the same kind of high-performance computing now found in data centers to make split-second decisions on the road.
IoT Security: Confusing And Fragmented
Semiconductor Engineering
Security regulations for Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices are evolving around the world, but there is no consistent set of requirements that can be applied globally — and there may never be.
Semiconductor shortage and the U.S. auto industry
Reuters
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) believes its industry is “currently doing all it possibly can in the short-term to increase utilization and meet increased demand both in the auto sector and more broadly for all customers.”
SIA lauds Senate FABS Act introduction
Just Auto
“Semiconductors form the foundation of the technologies that drive America’s economy, national security and critical infrastructure,” said president and CEO of Qorvo and 2021 SIA Board chairman, Bob Bruggeworth. “Senate approval last week of funding for domestic chip production and innovation in USICA marked a significant step forward and the FABS Act would build on that momentum and help ensure the US can meet the strong global semiconductor demand and maintain leadership in critical technologies.
UK car output halved as chips shortage bites
Reuters
British automotive production more than halved in May compared with the same month in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, as a global shortage of semi-conductors and other components continued to weigh on car plants.
U.S. Blocks Chinese Deal for Magnachip
EE Times
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) issued an interim order on June 15 blocking the Chinese private equity fund Wise Road Capital from acquiring Magnachip Semiconductor Corp. of Seoul, South Korea. The regulatory step puts the deal on hold, but observers said it’s unlikely U.S. and Korean regulators would allow it to proceed in its present form, citing national security concerns.
China’s ban forces some bitcoin miners to flee overseas, others sell out
Reuters
China’s sweeping ban on cryptocurrency mining has paralysed an industry that accounts for over half of global bitcoin production, as miners dump machines in despair or seek refuge in places such as Texas or Kazakhstan.
U.S. Commerce Department rescinds TikTok, WeChat prohibited transactions list
Reuters
The U.S Commerce Department said Monday it was rescinding a list of prohibited transactions with TikTok and WeChat that were issued in September as the Trump administration sought to block new U.S. downloads of both Chinese-owned apps.
U.K. Begins Negotiations to Join Trans-Pacific Trading Bloc
Bloomberg
Joining the CPTPP, whose members include Canada, Japan, Mexico and Australia, is a “glittering post-Brexit” prize, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement. Membership would boost the size of the U.K. economy by 1.8 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) over 15 years compared with its 2019 level, according to a scoping assessment by the Department for International Trade. That would mean an increase of 0.08%.
China backs Hong Kong to join RCEP trade deal in potential boost to city’s flagging logistics sector
South China Morning PostChina’s central government has expressed strong support for Hong Kong joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), after its financial secretary said the city intended to become a member of the 15-nation trade bloc in what could be a boost to its flagging logistics sector.
U.S. trade nominee urges ‘robust monitoring’ of aircraft subsidy truce with EU
Reuters
The United States must carry out “robust monitoring” of its five-year truce with the European Union in a 17-year battle over aircraft subsidies, Jayme White, President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve as deputy U.S. Trade Representative, said on Thursday.
Britain’s Pacific trade ambitions won’t compensate for Brexit
CNN
They point to the challenges of doing business with countries that are many thousands of miles away. The United Kingdom also already has bilateral trade deals in place with seven of the 11 CPTPP members — a number that would rise to eight if an agreement in principle with Australia, announced last week, is included. That raises questions as to how much additional benefit membership will deliver.
Thinner Channels With 2D Semiconductors
Semiconductor Engineering
Moving to future nodes will require more than just smaller features. At 3/2nm and beyond, new materials are likely to be added, but which ones and exactly when will depend upon an explosion of material science research underway at universities and companies around the globe.
How AI can transform layering technique for semiconductors
TechXplore
To make computer chips, technologists around the world rely on atomic layer deposition (ALD), which can create films as fine as one atom thick. Businesses commonly use ALD to make semiconductor devices, but it also has applications in solar cells, lithium batteries and other energy-related fields.
Bumps Vs. Hybrid Bonding For Advanced Packaging
Semiconductor Engineering
Advanced packaging continues to gain steam, but now customers must decide whether to design their next high-end packages using existing interconnect schemes or move to a next-generation, higher-density technology called copper hybrid bonding.
SIA Applauds Senate Introduction of FABS Act
Press Release
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today applauded the introduction in Congress of the Facilitating American-Built Semiconductors (FABS) Act, bipartisan legislation that would establish an investment tax credit to incentivize greater semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. The bill was introduced today by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the Chair and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Senate Finance Committee. Cosponsors include Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). SIA represents 98 percent of the U.S. semiconductor industry by revenue.
U.S. senators propose 25% tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing
Reuters
The Semiconductor Industry Association praised the proposal, saying it said would “strengthen domestic chip production and research, which are critical to U.S. job creation, national defense, infrastructure, and semiconductor supply chains.”
Government chip aid is ‘not a handout,’ Commerce official contends
Fierce Electronics
SIA and other backers of USICA funds believe the grants are necessary to compete with grants provided by governments in other countries for their own domestic semiconductor production and research. “It’s not a question of when we’re building but where—here or overseas,” Neuffer said. He said over the net decade, there will need to be a 56% increase in demand for chips. “Kind of a super cycle is coming at us; we may even be in one.”
U.S. Takes First Steps Toward Resilient Supply Chains
EE Times
Industry officials note that leading-edge fabs for advanced logic chips cost upwards of $30 billion. “That’s a couple of aircraft carriers,” Neuffer stressed. “We’ve got to do something, otherwise we kind of tip into the abyss in terms of our manufacturing.”
Global Chip Sales Up by Nearly 2% MoM in April
EE Times Asia
“Global demand for semiconductors remained high in April, as reflected by rising sales across a range of chip products and throughout each of the world’s major regional markets,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “The global chip market is projected to grow substantially in 2021 and 2022 as semiconductors become increasingly integral to the game-changing technologies of today and the future.”
House Republicans zero in on Big Tech’s relationships with China
CNBC
House Republicans are zeroing in on the relationship between Big Tech companies and China, expanding their initial platform focused on tech accountability.
China Steps Up Antitrust Pressure on Internet Firms
WSJ
Chinese regulators have intensified scrutiny of dozens of domestic internet companies for possible antitrust violations, people familiar with the matter said.
Restrictions are needed but full US-China tech decoupling isn’t wise, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says
South China Morning Post
The United States needs to curb China’s harmful acquisitions and restrict American investment in some Chinese firms to protect its national security, but a complete severing of technological ties would be worrisome, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers on Wednesday.
EU-China investment deal is still possible — but not before 2023, analyst says
CNBC
An investment pact between the European Union and China is still possible, but both sides may wait until 2023 at the earliest to ratify the deal, said an analyst from risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
U.S., EU Forge Closer Ties on Emerging Technologies to Counter Russia and China
WSJ
Microchips are likely to be an early focus of U.S.-EU cooperation, Ms. Vestager said, potentially via the TTC. The EU recently announced the objective of increasing its share of global chip-making from 10% to 20% and pledged more than $150 billion to the effort, which could come from coronavirus relief funding.
The U.S. and Britain end their aircraft subsidy dispute, mirroring an E.U. deal.
NYT
The United States and Britain have agreed to end a long-running trade spat over aircraft subsidies, and not impose certain retaliatory tariffs for five years, the nations announced on Thursday.
UK appeals to Congress in push for trade deal
The Hill
British diplomats are pitching U.S. lawmakers on trade as the Biden administration slow-walks discussions around a bilateral trade agreement.
UK agrees post-Brexit trade deal with Australia
CNBC
The U.K. has agreed a free trade deal with Australia, saying it marked a “new dawn” in their relations. The free trade agreement means it will cost less for British businesses to sell products like cars, confectionery and Scotch whisky into Australia, the U.K. government said Tuesday.
Strained Semiconductor Layers Shift the Paradigm
EE Times
For 40 years since the invention of the transistor, there was one inviolable rule about multiple epitaxial layers of different materials: heterostructures. Figuring out how to get beyond heterostructures has yielded improvements in semiconductor performance, however.
Tuning the energy gap: A novel approach for organic semiconductors
Science Daily
What is already established for inorganic semiconductors stays a challenge for their organic counterparts: Tuning the energy gap by blending different semiconducting molecules to optimize device performance. Now, scientists demonstrated how to reach this goal.
Resourceful solid-state nanopores: From blue energy production to big data processing
Open Access Government
Porous materials were well-known for their applications in liquid filtering and water desalination when J. Kasianowicz and his collaborators proposed to use ion-channels in the lipid bi-layer membranes of human cells as a cheap tool for reliable DNA sequencing.
Geopolitical And Economic Outlook For Chips And Equipment
Semiconductor Engineering
Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineer sat down to discuss geopolitical and economic changes and how they affect the chip industry with Jean-Christophe Eloy, CEO of Yole Developpement; Risto Puhakka, president of VLSI Research; Carolyn Evans, chief economist at Intel; Duncan Meldrum, chief economist at Hilltop Economics; and Rozalia Beica, chief strategy officer in AT&S’ Semiconductor Division.
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 1.9% Month-to-Month in April; Annual Sales Projected to Increase 19.7% in 2021, 8.8% in 2022
Press Release
“Global demand for semiconductors remained high in April, as reflected by rising sales across a range of chip products and throughout each of the world’s major regional markets,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “The global chip market is projected to grow substantially in 2021 and 2022 as semiconductors become increasingly integral to the game-changing technologies of today and the future.”
Senate Passage of USICA Marks Major Step Toward Enacting Needed Semiconductor Investments
Press Release
Senate passage of USICA is a pivotal step toward strengthening U.S. semiconductor production and innovation and an indication of the strong, bipartisan support in Washington for ensuring sustained American leadership in science and technology,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO.
SIA Welcomes White House Report on Strengthening America’s Semiconductor Supply Chains
Press Release
“We appreciate the Biden administration’s focus on ensuring the strength and resilience of America’s semiconductor supply chains and applaud the White House report’s call for federal investments in domestic semiconductor production and innovation. We look forward to working with leaders in the Administration and Congress to swiftly enact needed federal investments in chip technology to help ensure more of the chips our country needs are researched, designed, and manufactured on U.S. shores.”
Senate passes $250 billion bipartisan tech and manufacturing bill aimed at countering China
CNBC
“Senate passage of USICA is a pivotal step toward strengthening U.S. semiconductor production and innovation and an indication of the strong, bipartisan support in Washington for ensuring sustained American leadership in science and technology,” said John Neuffer, CEO of the SIA. “Enactment of these investments would help strengthen America’s economy, national security, technology leadership, and global competitiveness for years to come.”
Senate Passes Sweeping Bill to Help U.S. Compete With China
Bloomberg
“Semiconductors form the nerve center of America’s economy, national security, and critical infrastructure,” said John Neuffer, the president and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association. “We look forward to working with leaders in the administration and Congress to swiftly enact needed federal investments in chip technology to help ensure more of the chips our country needs are researched, designed and manufactured on U.S. shores.”
U.S. Senate passes sweeping $250B bill to address China threat
Fierce Electronics
Semiconductor Industry Association President John Neuffer called the passage of USICA “a pivotal step toward strengthening U.S. semiconductor production and innovation and an indication of the strong, bipartisan support in Washington for ensuring sustained American leadership in science and technology…Enactment of these investments would help strengthen America’s economy, national security, technology leadership, and global competitiveness for years to come.”
Five key parts of the Senate’s sweeping China competitiveness bill
The Hill
SIA President and CEO John Neuffer said in a statement to The Hill that “we simply need to be doing more chip research, design, and manufacturing on U.S. shores.” “Other countries’ governments have made huge investments to attract chip manufacturing and research,” Neuffer said. “The semiconductor funding … would help level the global playing field and ensure more of the chips our country needs are made in America, which would benefit U.S. workers, businesses, and consumers alike.”
White House report puts heavy focus on domestic chip production, R&D
Fierce Electronics
“Semiconductors form the nerve center of America’s economy, national security and critical infrastructure,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO, in a statement. He said he looks forward to working with leaders in Congress and the administration.
‘Take the Lead’ on Chip Shortage: White House to Industry
Consumer Electronics Daily
The Semiconductor Industry Association — quoted extensively in the report — wants the administration and Congress “to swiftly enact needed federal investments in chip technology to help ensure more of the chips our country needs are researched, designed, and manufactured on U.S. shores,” said CEO John Neuffer.
Chip sales up 21.7% y-o-y
Electronics Weekly
“Global demand for semiconductors remained high in April, as reflected by rising sales across a range of chip products and throughout each of the world’s major regional markets,” says SIA CEO John Neuffer.
Global semiconductor sales forecast to hit US$527.2b in 2021, says SIA
The Edge Markets
SIA president and CEO John Neuffer said global demand for semiconductors remained high in April, as reflected by rising sales across a range of chip products and throughout each of the world’s major regional markets. “The global chip market is projected to grow substantially in 2021 and 2022 as semiconductors become increasingly integral to the game-changing technologies of today and the future,” he said.
Global semiconductor sales increase in April
DigiTimes
“Global demand for semiconductors remained high in April, as reflected by rising sales across a range of chip products and throughout each of the world’s major regional markets,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “The global chip market is projected to grow substantially in 2021 and 2022 as semiconductors become increasingly integral to the game-changing technologies of today and the future.”
New Chinese semiconductor firms have tripled in 2021 as Beijing and Washington jockey over technological supremacy
South China Morning Post
The number of newly registered chip-related companies in China more than tripled in the first five months of the year from the same period in 2020 in a fresh sign that China is sparing no effort in its pursuit of self-sufficiency in semiconductors, for which the country relies heavily on imports and US technologies to satisfy domestic demand.
China must pursue chip assembly, packaging breakthroughs to catch up with semiconductor leaders, experts say
South China Morning Post
China must pursue breakthroughs in chip assembly and packaging technologies to catch up with global industry leaders, according to experts who spoke on Wednesday at the World Semiconductor Conference held in the eastern city of Nanjing.
China’s Huawei aims to reach driverless car technology in 2025
Reuters
China’s Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) aims to develop driverless passenger car technology by 2025, an executive said on Thursday, as the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker diversifies its business in the face of U.S. sanctions.
China’s Tech Clampdown Is Spreading Like Wildfire
WSJ
The latest salvos in China’s campaign against its tech companies make one thing clear: Jack Ma’s businesses aren’t the only ones under the regulatory microscope. What started out as a government crackdown on anticompetitive practices among Chinese internet giants has grown into a broader effort to clean up how the country’s fast-growing—and, until recently, freewheeling—tech sector operates.
U.S. trade czar Tai says upbeat on prospects for ‘intense’ trade talks with EU
Reuters
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Thursday she will accompany President Joe Biden to Brussels next week for “intense negotiations” to try to resolve trade disputes over aircraft subsidies and steel and aluminum.
Biden wants the G-7 to unite against China. Beijing’s trade wars are helping.
Politico
China will dominate discussion during President Joe Biden’s first foreign trip, as the G-7 summit kicks off Friday. And that’s exactly what he wants. The Communist-led country isn’t a member of the club of rich democracies established in 1975. But the leaders assembled in Cornwall, England, will spend much of their time discussing how to confront its growing influence.
Ireland: UK-EU food safety deal wouldn’t stop UK-US trade pact
Politico
Behind-the-scenes reassurances by U.S. President Joe Biden to Britain should spur a U.K.-EU pact on food standards that simplifies the contentious Northern Ireland trade protocol, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said Friday.
Where Europe and the US don’t see eye to eye
Politico
With eight days of glad-handing, photo ops and fanfare, Joe Biden and his team are hoping his trip to Europe will reboot transatlantic relations. That won’t be easy.
Tuning the energy gap: A novel approach for organic semiconductors
Science Daily
Organic semiconductors have earned a reputation as energy efficient materials in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) that are employed in large area displays. In these and in other applications, such as solar cells, a key parameter is the energy gap between electronic states.
Customizing Chips For Power And Performance
Semiconductor Engineering
Sandro Cerato, senior vice president and CTO of the Power & Sensor Systems Business Unit at Infineon Technologies, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to talk about fundamental shifts in chip design with the rollout of the edge, AI, and more customized solutions. What follows are excerpts of that conversation.
How GaN is changing the future of semiconductors
TechRadar
The industry has been reliant on silicon for decades, but the chip shortage is helping to make electronic devices more environmentally friendly, more efficient and smaller. More companies are turning to gallium nitride (GaN), because it is easier and faster to produce than silicon chips, among other benefits.
Bipartisan Legislation to Eliminate Per-Country Immigration Caps Would Help Strengthen U.S. Semiconductor Workforce
Blog Post
Bipartisan legislation introduced this week in the House would eliminate the counterproductive per-country cap on employment-based visas in favor of a fair, “first come, first served” system, providing U.S. semiconductor companies with greater access to top talent from around the world needed to compete and innovate.
Global Governments Ramp Up Pace of Chip Investments
Blog Post
The strategic significance of semiconductors and their ever-increasing importance for economic competitiveness and supply-chain resilience has become a focus for governments worldwide.
Biden is worried about Chinese control of ‘strategic technology.’ But which technologies are strategic?
The Washington Post
Earlier this year, the Biden administration made a splash when it announced an executive order requiring the U.S. government to review the nation’s supply chains for critical technologies by June 4. The goal: Ensure that the United States wouldn’t run short of items essential for national security, like semiconductor manufacturing equipment and high-capacity batteries.
Japan puts all chips on the table to lure semiconductor makers
Nikkei Asia
Japan will pull out every policy stop to court overseas semiconductor companies, including offering generous financial incentives, under a draft growth strategy released Wednesday, joining the global race to secure supplies of the crucial component. Taiwan accounts for more than 90% of the global output capacity for smartphone and other advanced chips using 10-nanometer or smaller technology, according to the U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association.
Big Changes Ahead For Connected Vehicles
Semiconductor Engineering
Carmakers are reworking their electronic architectures so they can tap into a growing number of external services and internal options, similar to the way a data center taps into various services over its internal network.
Biden expands Trump order by banning U.S. investment in Chinese companies linked to the military or surveillance technology
The Washington Post
The Biden administration is expanding a Trump-era order that banned U.S. investment in Chinese companies that support China’s military to include those selling surveillance technology, calling the entities a threat to U.S. interests and values.
U.S. agency not doing its job to halt tech to China’s military -congressional report
Reuters
The U.S. Commerce Department is failing to do its part to protect national security and keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China’s military, according to a U.S. congressional advisory report seen by Reuters.
China tech policy: Shenzhen’s new data law another signal of intent to rein in Big Tech
South China Morning Post
Shenzhen is moving forward with a new draft law aimed at protecting personal data, in another signal of China’s ambition to rein in Big Tech and build a robust data management regime that balances privacy protection with appropriate business use.
China races to rival the U.S. with its own GPS system — but one analyst says it won’t overtake the U.S. yet
CNBC
China is set to become a major player in the “highly lucrative” satellite navigation market, as it seeks to compete with the U.S. government-owned Global Positioning System (GPS), an analyst said Monday.
UK gets green light to start talks on joining pacific trade deal
Reuters
Member nations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on Wednesday agreed to allow Britain to start the process of joining the pact, Japan’s economy minister said.
Optimism rises over G7 deal on global corporate tax regime
Financial Times
The UK is “cautiously optimistic” that the G7 group of advanced nations can agree the broad outlines of a global deal on taxing multinationals following intense discussions in recent days, according to people with knowledge of the talks.
India, U.K. Eye Interim Pact to Help Clinch Major Trade Deal
Bloomberg
India and the U.K. are intensifying talks to remove non-tariff barriers and foster greater market access as they work to stitch together the South Asian nation’s first major free trade pact in a decade.
UK strikes trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein
Reuters
Britain announced a trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein on Friday, replacing the temporary arrangements that had been in place since it left the European Union.
New method developed to improve durability of nano-electronic components, further semiconductor manufacturing
Phys.Org
University of South Florida researchers recently developed a novel approach to mitigating electromigration in nanoscale electronic interconnects that are ubiquitous in state-of-the-art integrated circuits.
Semiconductors: Your car is a computer on wheels
Financial Express
Have you ever wondered how at the touch of a button the car window opens and closes, how if another vehicle comes closer your car’s sensors start beeping, how a slight push to the accelerator pedal can enhance the power delivery of the engine in a fraction of a second?
The Good And Bad Of Auto IC Updates
Semiconductor Engineering
Keeping automobiles updated enough to avoid problems is becoming increasingly difficult as more complex electronics are added into vehicles, and as the lifetimes of those devices are extended to a decade or more.
Meghan Biery Joins Semiconductor Industry Association as Director of Global Technology and Security Policy
Press Release
“A seasoned policy practitioner with high-level experience in technology security, export control, and related issues, Meghan Biery will be a strong and capable advocate for our industry’s interests in Washington and around the world. We’re excited to welcome her to the SIA team and look forward to her help advancing government initiatives that promote continued growth and innovation in our industry.”
POLITICO Playbook: Transitions
Politico
Meghan Biery is now director of global technology and security policy at the Semiconductor Industry Association. She most recently was senior national security policy adviser at the Bureau of Industry and Security in the Department of Commerce.
Protocol Source Code
Protocol
Meghan Biery is the new director of global technology and security policy at the SIA, where she’ll be involved in helping end the chip shortage and direct U.S. investment in semiconductors.
U.S. chip funding could result in seven to 10 new factories -officials
Reuters
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Monday a proposed $52 billion boost in U.S. government funding for semiconductor production and research could result in seven to 10 new U.S. factories.
Commerce secretary on boosting U.S. semiconductor production: ‘We’re going to get it done’
CNBC
In an interview on CNBC’s “Mad Money,” Raimondo said the global chip shortage that’s rattled a range of industries demonstrates the need for America to boost domestic production capacity and once again become a leader. Asian countries, particularly Taiwan, have come to dominate the industry.
Democrats, GOP team up on bill targeting China as U.S. suffers microchip shortage
CNBC
“We’re really good at the design of semiconductors; we’re really good at the intellectual property part. But we don’t actually make that much here,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of new foundries where you can call in and order, and they can supply anyone.” Modern chip factories can cost tens of billions of dollars to construct and need to be furnished with machines able to imprint circuits just several atoms wide.
US and China trade officials hold ‘candid’ first talks of Biden era
BBC
The Office of the United States Trade Representative said that Ms Tai and Mr Liu “discussed the guiding principles of the Biden-Harris Administration’s worker-centered trade policy and her ongoing review of the U.S.-China trade relationship, while also raising issues of concern.”
A Temporary U.S.-China Trade Truce Starts to Look Durable
NYT
Just days before the coronavirus shut down the Chinese city of Wuhan and changed the world, the Trump administration and China signed what both sides said would be only a temporary truce in their 18-month trade war.
China’s crypto crackdown speeds shift to central Asia, North America mining
Reuters
A crackdown by Beijing is rapidly accelerating a shift in focus by makers of machines that ‘mine’ cryptocurrencies like bitcoin from China to North America and Central Asia as Chinese clients face an uncertain future.
China’s Next-Generation Tech Firms Hit Hard by Market’s Pullback
WSJ
Like technology stocks everywhere, those of newer Chinese companies have suffered as investors have regained their appetite for more modestly valued old-economy businesses. Those stocks are likely to do well as the U.S. and other countries rebound from the pandemic. The Chinese companies are also caught up in an official clampdown on China’s tech sector alongside Alibaba and other big players.
Huawei plans to launch new operating system for phones in June
Reuters
China’s Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) said it will launch its new Harmony operating system for smartphones on June 2, its biggest move yet aimed at recovering from the damage done by U.S. sanctions to its mobile phone business.
The U.S. Shouldn’t Let China Take the Lead on Trade
Bloomberg Editorial Board
However loudly U.S. politicians vow to compete with China, they seem happy to quit the field and let Beijing win in one crucial area: trade. If President Joe Biden hopes to build a coalition in Asia to counterbalance China’s rise, he can’t afford such defeatism.
U.K. Starts Prep for India Trade Deal in Latest Post-Brexit Push
Bloomberg
The U.K. began formal preparation for a free-trade agreement with India, a post-Brexit target for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he seeks to prove the benefit of leaving the European Union.
The Increasingly Uneven Race To 3nm/2nm
Semiconductor Engineering
Several chipmakers and fabless design houses are racing against each other to develop processes and chips at the next logic nodes in 3nm and 2nm, but putting these technologies into mass production is proving both expensive and difficult.
Study of promising photovoltaic material leads to discovery of a new state of matter
Science Daily
Researchers have gained new insight into the workings of perovskites, a semiconductor material that shows great promise for making high-efficiency, low-cost solar cells and a range of other optical and electronic devices.
Scaling Simulation
Semiconductor Engineering
Without functional simulation the semiconductor industry would not be where it is today, but some people in the industry contend it hasn’t received the attention and research it deserves, causing a stagnation in performance. Others disagree, noting that design sizes have increased by orders of magnitude while design times have shrunk, pointing to simulation remaining a suitable tool for the job.
Aspinity’s Awesome Analog Artificial Neural Networks (AANNs)
EE Journal
I was just looking at The Decadal Plan for Semiconductors. This is a 150-page report that was published in January 2021 by the Semiconductor Research Corporation, which is a leading non-profit industry-government-academia microelectronics research consortium funding academic research tasks selected and directed by industry and government members.
Robust Federal Incentives for Domestic Chip Manufacturing Would Create an Average of Nearly 200,000 American Jobs Annually as Fabs are Built, Add Nearly $25 Billion Annually to U.S. Economy
Press Release
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), in partnership with Oxford Economics, today released a study analyzing the semiconductor workforce in the United States and the economic benefits that would come from robust federal investment in domestic chip production. The report, titled “Chipping In: The Positive Impact of the Semiconductor Industry on the American Workforce and How Federal Industry Incentives Will Increase Domestic Jobs,” finds the semiconductor industry directly employs more than 277,000 workers in high-paying R&D, design, and manufacturing jobs across 49 states and supports 1.6 million additional American jobs.
SIA Applauds Strong Senate Vote to Proceed with Consideration of Endless Frontier Act
Press Release
“America’s economic strength, national security, and global competitiveness depend heavily on its ability to lead the world in semiconductors and the many technologies they enable. Today’s truly impressive bipartisan vote shows a driving commitment in Congress to boost U.S. competitiveness by moving the Endless Frontier Act one significant step closer to enactment.”
Semiconductor Industry Association and Alliance for Automotive Innovation Convene Joint Industry Workshop on Global Semiconductor Shortage
Press Release
“Leaders from the semiconductor and automotive industries have a shared commitment to resolving the global chip shortage as quickly and efficiently as possible. Today’s workshop was an important opportunity for both industries to exchange information about the shortage and identify areas for continued collaboration to end it.”
Chip funding of $50B would boost domestic jobs in construction, design, study says
Fierce Electronics
The semiconductor industry currently employs 277,000 people in 49 states in the U.S. and supports 1.6 million U.S. jobs, according to the study by the Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics. In 2020, the industry’s total impact on the U.S. economy surpassed $246 billion. “Leaders in Washington can spur greater U.S. economic growth and job creation, while also strengthening America’s ship supply chains, by investing boldly in domestic manufacturing incentives and research initiatives,” SIA Board Chair Bob Bruggeworth said in a statement. He is also CEO of Qorvo.
Chip industry predicts big boost from federal funding
Axios
Aiming to sway budget-conscious legislators on the value of federal funding, the chip industry’s U.S. trade group says that $50 billion in investment would boost the U.S. economy by $25 billion per year and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Senate Weighs Investing $120 Billion in Science to Counter China
NYT
“Doing so would turbocharge U.S. chip production and innovation and help keep America at its competitive best for years to come,” said John Neuffer, the president of the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Industries pressure Washington to act as chip crisis worsens
Politico
“There’s growing recognition among policymakers that — whether it’s the auto chip shortage, or competition with China, or the race for the technologies of the future — all roads lead to semiconductors, and I think it’s getting that level of prioritization among official Washington,” said David Isaacs, vice president of government affairs at the Semiconductor Industry Association.
U.S. senators near deal on $52 billion microchip funding measure
AsumeTech
“To strengthen America’s chip supply chains over the long term, we believe it is critical for President Biden and Congress to fund the domestic semiconductor manufacturing incentives and research initiatives in the CHIPS for America Act,” John Bozzella, CEO of the alliance, said in a joint statement with John Neuffer, CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Carmakers Don’t Deserve Special Chip Treatment
Bloomberg
When does a car deserve special treatment from the government? That’s the question at the heart of this week’s White House summit on the semiconductor shortage that’s impacted everything from smartphones to tractors, factory equipment and, yes, passenger vehicles.
Tencent profits soar even as China tech crackdown worries linger
CNN
Tencent is pulling in more money and plans on investing more in games and videos, even as Beijing expands its scrutiny of the tech sector. The Chinese gaming and social media giant said Thursday that revenue jumped 25% to 135.3 billion yuan (about $21 billion) for the quarter ended March compared to the same period last year.
China bans financial, payment institutions from cryptocurrency business
Reuters
China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions, and warned investors against speculative crypto trading.
China lands on Mars in major advance for its space ambitions
Associated Press
China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time on Saturday, a technically challenging feat more difficult than a moon landing, in the latest step forward for its ambitious goals in space.
TikTok Parent’s Founder Is Latest China Tech Boss to Step Down Amid Government Crackdown
WSJ
The move by the founder of TikTok’s parent company to step down as chief executive makes him the latest in a series of Chinese internet entrepreneurs to leave the spotlight as authorities tighten the reins on the nation’s tech giants.
EU Suspends Plans to Raise Tariffs on U.S. Whiskey, Other Goods
WSJ
The European Union on Monday agreed to postpone plans to raise tariffs on American whiskeys, motorcycles, boats and other items set to take effect June 1 as it begins talks with the Biden administration aimed at lifting U.S. steel tariffs.
UK to offer Australia tariff-free trade deal despite farmers’ fears
Financial Times
The UK will on Friday offer Australia a tariff-free, quota-free trade deal after Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted it should go ahead in spite of warnings it could seriously damage British farmers.
European Parliament to vote on freezing China deal
Politico
The European Parliament is expected to pass a motion on Thursday pushing to formally freeze the EU’s investment agreement with China, in the wake of what MEPs describe as Beijing’s “baseless and arbitrary” sanctions on EU lawmakers earlier this year.
Advanced Packaging’s Next Wave
Semiconductor Engineering
These advanced packages involve a range of technologies, such as 2.5D/3D, chiplets, fan-out and system-in-package (SiP). Each of these, in turn, offers an array of options for assembling and integrating complex dies in an advanced package, providing chip customers with many possible ways to differentiate their new IC designs.
Fast, affordable solution proposed for transparent displays and semiconductors
Phys.Org
The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) under the Ministry of Science and ICT developed a roll-based damage-free transfer technique that allows two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials to be transferred into wafer scale without damage. The proposed technique has a variety of applications from transparent displays and semiconductors to displays for self-driving cars, and is expected to accelerate the commercialization of 2D nanomaterial-based high-performance devices.
What’s Next In Fab Tool Technologies?
Semiconductor Engineering
Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and other next-generation fab technologies with Jerry Chen, head of global business development for manufacturing & industrials at Nvidia; David Fried, vice president of computational products at Lam Research; Mark Shirey, vice president of marketing and applications at KLA; and Aki Fujimura, CEO of D2S. What follows are excerpts of that conversation.
SIA Applauds Committee Approval of Endless Frontier Act
Statement
“The Endless Frontier Act would reinforce U.S. leadership in the critical technologies of the future, including semiconductors, and strengthen America’s economy, national security, and global competitiveness. We appreciate the leadership of Sens. Schumer and Young in advancing this bipartisan legislation and applaud the Senate Commerce Committee for approving it. As the bill moves to the Senate floor, we look forward to working with leaders in Congress to include needed funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research to ensure the United States is home to a bigger share of global chip production and innovation for years to come.”
Semiconductor makers and users form a group to push for chip funding.
NYT
Semiconductor companies and big businesses that use chips have formed a coalition to push for tens of billions of dollars in federal funding for semiconductor research and manufacturing in the United States. The new group, the Semiconductors in America Coalition, announced its formation on Tuesday amid a global semiconductor shortage that has caused disruptions throughout the economy.
Tech Giants Urge Congress to Fund Chip Act, Focus on Long-Term
Bloomberg
The Semiconductors in America Coalition, which also includes Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Cisco Systems Inc., Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services, Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., is sending letters to Congressional leaders asking them to fund the CHIPS for America Act passed earlier this year, according to a statement from the Semiconductor Industry Association, which is a member. Public money would go to provide incentives for manufacturing and research in the U.S.
Tech giants join call for funding U.S. chip production
Reuters
“Robust funding of the CHIPS Act would help America build the additional capacity necessary to have more resilient supply chains to ensure critical technologies will be there when we need them,” the group said in a letter to Democratic and Republican leaders in both houses of the U.S. Congress.
Chip coalition calls on Congress to approve funding for domestic US manufacturing
Electronics 360
“Semiconductors are the brains of the systems and technologies that enable America’s economic growth, national security, digital infrastructure, and global technology leadership,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO of the SIA. “Leaders from a broad range of critical sectors of the U.S. economy, as well as a large and bipartisan group of policymakers in Washington, recognize the essential role of semiconductors in America’s current and future strength.”
New Semiconductor Coalition Pushes For R&D Funding:
Politico
The newly formed Semiconductors in America Coalition is pushing Congress to allocate $50 billion for the CHIPS for America Act, H.R. 7178 (116). The money would support U.S.-based research and manufacturing of cutting-edge semiconductors, which has largely shifted overseas.
Big Tech, semiconductors team up to lobby US government on chip production funding
Fox Business
The share of chips manufactured in the U.S. has fallen from 37% in 1990 to 12% today, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which says the decline is mostly due to subsidies offered by foreign governments to global competitors, putting American companies at a disadvantage.
Coalition pushes for funding for US chip manufacturing
Electronics Weekly
The coalition is lobbying the US government to fund the CHIPS for America Act which aims to provide $50 billion for chip manufacturing.
Nearly Every Big Tech Company Joined the New Semiconductors in America Coalition
Tom’s Hardware
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and President Joe Biden have both lent their support to the act, which was approved by the House and the Senate as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 but has not yet been funded.
Exclusive: U.S. senators expected to announce $52 billion chips funding deal – sources
Reuters
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is expected to unveil a $52 billion proposal on Friday that would significantly boost U.S. semiconductor chip production and research over five years, sources briefed on the matter said.
Senate Panel Advances Bill to Counter China in Bipartisan Vote
Bloomberg
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced legislation aimed at ramping up federal support for U.S. research and development in the aim of better competing with China. The package of legislation the committee sent to the full Senate on an 24-4 vote is framed around a $100 billion, five-year injection to American colleges, universities and other research institutions to bolster domestic research and development. It also has $10 billion for regional technology hubs.
Peters’ $2 billion chips amendment added to China bill
The Detroit News
Legislation by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, to pump $2 billion into semiconductor manufacturing in the United States was added Wednesday to a bill targeting American competitiveness with China.
The Technology 202: The federal government is rolling out record amounts of broadband funding. It could be just the beginning.
The Washington Post
The federal government is starting to disburse more than $10 billion to bring more Americans affordable Internet. Tens of millions of Americans are eligible for a new “Emergency Broadband Benefit” that launched today to help people affected by the pandemic pay their Internet bills.
Chinese EV maker BYD to spin off chip unit amid global shortage
Nikkei Asia
BYD, one of China’s largest makers of electric cars and buses, is moving ahead with plans to list its semiconductor subsidiary even as rivals scramble to acquire chips to keep up production of their vehicles.
China Tech Giants Bet $19 Billion on Global Electric Car Frenzy
Bloomberg
China is shaping up to be the first real test of Big Tech’s ambitions in the world of carmaking, with giants from Huawei Technologies Co. to Baidu Inc. plowing almost $19 billion into electric and self-driving vehicle ventures widely seen as the future of transport.
EXCLUSIVE Tesla in talks with China’s EVE for low-cost battery supply deal -sources
Reuters
Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) is in talks with Chinese battery maker EVE Energy Co (300014.SZ) to add the firm to its Shanghai factory supply chain, four people familiar with the matter said, as it seeks to boost procurement of lower cost batteries.
Solution to disputes with EU over aircraft, metals ‘within reach’ – Tai
Reuters
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Thursday that she believes solutions to trade disputes with the European Union on aircraft subsidies and steel and aluminum “are within reach.”
USTR Katherine Tai under pressure on Asia-Pacific trade pact
South China Morning Post
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai came under pressure in a Senate hearing over whether America should seek entry to the Asia-Pacific trade pact that Washington withdrew from in 2017 and faced backlash for her backing of a proposal to waive coronavirus vaccine patent protections.
EU and India Eye Trade Reboot to Confront Threats from China
Bloomberg
The European Union and India are set to resume long-stalled talks on a free trade deal in an effort to strengthen their economic cooperation in the face of an increasingly assertive China.
Chiplets: A Solution For The Shortage Of Chips
Semiconductor Engineering
These days, there are new reports on the shortage of chips almost every day. Currently, this issue is affecting mainly car manufacturers such as Audi, Ford, and more. But other system manufacturers, such as in the machine construction industry, are also facing this challenge.
Harnessing the hum of fluorescent lights for more efficient computing
NanoWerk
The property that makes fluorescent lights buzz could power a new generation of more efficient computing devices that store data with magnetic fields, rather than electricity. A team led by University of Michigan researchers has developed a material that’s at least twice as “magnetostrictive” and far less costly than other materials in its class. In addition to computing, it could also lead to better magnetic sensors for medical and security devices.
Manufacturing Bits: May 10
Semiconductor Engineering
The University of Hong Kong and Northwestern University have developed an organic electrochemical synaptic transistor, a technology that could one day process and store information like the human brain. Researchers have demonstrated that the transistor can mimic the synapses in the human brain. It can build on memories to learn over time, according to researchers.
Mapping Heat Across A System
Semiconductor Engineering
Thermal issues are becoming more difficult to resolve as chip features get smaller and systems get faster and more complex. They now require the integration of technologies from both the design and manufacturing flows, making design for power and heat a much broader problem.
Q1 Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 3.6% Over Previous Quarter
Press Release
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors totaled $123.1 billion during the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 3.6% over the previous quarter and 17.8% more than the first quarter of 2020. Global sales for the month of March 2021 were $41.0 billion, an increase of 3.7% compared to the previous month.
Government Should Help U.S. Chip Industry
WSJ – John Neuffer Letter to Editor
In “Government Won’t Fix Chip Shortage” (op-ed, April 29), T.J. Rodgers is right that chip makers and their customers will resolve the current chip shortage without government intervention, but he’s wrong to dismiss the urgent need for government action to strengthen America’s semiconductor supply chains over the long term.
To the Editor: Re “Chip Shortage Creates Chaos for Carmakers” (front page, April 24):
NYT – John Neuffer Letter to Editor
The global chip shortage is one of many economic disruptions caused by the pandemic, and its impact has been felt by automakers and a range of other sectors. Chip demand from automakers fell abruptly after the onset of the pandemic, then rebounded rapidly. And chip makers have been ramping up production for cars to meet that renewed demand. As a result, starting in October 2020, global monthly sales of chips to the auto market were higher than they were the year before, and that trend has continued into 2021.
Despite Chip Shortage, Chip Innovation Is Booming
NYT
A global shortage of semiconductors has cast a cloud over the plans of carmakers and other companies. But there’s a silver lining for Silicon Valley executives like Aart de Geus.
Widespread Commodity Shortages Raise Inflation Fears
NYT
Manufacturing chips can take as long as 26 weeks from when a customer orders them, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents chip companies. And expanding U.S. chip manufacturing, as Mr. Biden wants to do, is more of a long-term aspiration, given the time and expense required to build new plants.
New Council Launches to Advance Canada’s Semiconductor Industry
Betakit
The creation of this new council comes amid a global shortage of semiconductor chips. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, Global semiconductor sales increased 6.5 percent in 2020, indicating a high demand for chips.
Q1 semi sales up 17.8%
Electronics Weekly
“Global semiconductor sales remained strong during the first quarter of 2021, topping sales from the previous quarter and substantially outpacing the total from the first quarter of last year,” says SIA CEO John Neuffer, “year-to-year and month-to-month sales in March increased across all major regional markets, and demand grew across a range of product categories.”
EU aims to cut foreign reliance on chips, pharma materials -document
Reuters
The European Union aims to cut its dependency on Chinese and other foreign suppliers in six strategic areas including raw materials, pharmaceutical ingredients and semiconductors, under an industrial action plan to be announced next week.
‘We’re in a competition with China’: Sen. Cornyn holds semiconductor shortage roundtable in Dallas
The Dallas Morning News
“Just because something’s cheaper when it’s being made overseas doesn’t really answer all the questions we have, particularly when it becomes a matter of national security or survival of our economy. We’re in a competition with China,” Cornyn said at a press conference Thursday.
US-China tech war: software maker Kingdee sees opportunity in shift to domestic cloud services market
South China Morning Post
Kingdee International Software Group, China’s biggest enterprise software company, is expanding in cloud services at the expense of short-term profits to capitalise on what its president calls a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity, as the US-China tech war pushes local firms to rethink their reliance on American technology.
China’s tech hub Shenzhen to invest US$108 billion in R&D over 5 years
South China Morning Post
Shenzhen is set to invest more than 700 billion yuan (US$108 billion) in hi-tech research and development over the next five years as it seeks to reinforce its position as China’s innovation powerhouse.
Merkel wants Europe, United States to aim for new trade deal
Reuters
A trade agreement between the United States and the European Union would “make a lot of sense”, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech in which she welcomed the United States’ return to the multilateral fold under President Joe Biden.
US downplays prospect of post-Brexit trade deal with UK
Mirror
A transatlantic trade pact is a key goal of Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit plan to boost the economy. But efforts so far have stalled – and a bid for an agreement with Donald Trump’s White House flopped before he was ousted from office. Asked about a pact, Secretary of State Antony Blinken fuelled hopes a deal between America and Britain could be revived. He said: “I am, I was, hopefully very positive because there is no closer relationship.
UK and Japan agree to strengthen trade and security partnership
Reuters
Britain and Japan agreed to deepen their trade and security cooperation, the British foreign office said in a statement after a meeting between Dominic Raab and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi in London on Monday.
UK and India to start full trade deal talks in the autumn – UK
Reuters
Britain and India will start negotiations for a full free trade deal in the autumn, British trade minister Liz Truss said on Tuesday.
New Water-Based Approach to Manufacturing Semiconductors
The Financial
With the increasing demand for high-tech devices such as smart phones, wearable watches and portable health monitoring devices, the semiconductor manufacturing industry faces a big challenge of fabricating these devices in a sustainable and cost-effective way, according to University of Oxford.
Steep Spike For Chip Complexity And Unknowns
Semiconductor Engineering
Cramming more and different kinds of processors and memories onto a die or into a package is causing the number of unknowns and the complexity of those designs to skyrocket.
IC Security Threat Grows As More Devices Are Connected
Semiconductor Engineering
Designing for security is beginning to gain traction across a wider swath of chips and systems as more of them are connected to the Internet and to each other, sometimes in safety- and mission-critical markets where the impact of a cyber attack can be devastating.
Following President Biden’s Remarks to Congress, SIA Urges Prompt Action to Enact Bold Investments in Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing and Research
SIA Statement
“During tonight’s address to Congress and throughout his first 100 days in office, President Biden has demonstrated a commitment to strengthening America’s leadership in semiconductors through robust investment in domestic chip manufacturing, design, and research. The President and a large, bipartisan group of leaders in Congress understand semiconductors are at the heart of our economic strength, national security, digital infrastructure, and global competitiveness, and we appreciate their support and leadership.“
‘This is Infrastructure’: Momentum and Urgency Build for Federal Investments in Chip Manufacturing and Research
Blog Post
On April 12 at the White House, with top CEOs from the semiconductor, automotive, and other sectors joining via teleconference to discuss the ongoing global chip shortage and securing our supply chains, President Biden held up a silicon wafer bristling with semiconductors and said, “This is infrastructure.”
SIA Echoes National Security Leaders’ Call for Federal Investments in Chip Technology
Press Release
“A key part of strengthening U.S. national security is ensuring America’s global leadership in semiconductors, which are essential to a range of critical defense applications. SIA joins defense and intelligence leaders in calling on President Biden and Congress to enact and fund legislation to bolster America’s global technology leadership and semiconductor supply chains through federal investments in domestic chip manufacturing and research. Funding the CHIPS for America Act and enacting the Endless Frontier Act will help ensure more of the semiconductors our country needs are produced on U.S. soil, while also promoting America’s leadership in the strategically important technologies of today and tomorrow.”
Biden delivers speech to joint session of Congress
Reuters
“During tonight’s address to Congress and throughout his first 100 days in office, President Biden has demonstrated a commitment to strengthening America’s semiconductor supply chains through robust investment in domestic chip manufacturing, design, and research. Now is the time for leaders in Washington to shoulder in by enacting legislation that funds these important provisions.”
Washington Wire: After Census Release, a Flood of Lawsuits
WSJ
Trumps Deputy National-Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger signs on to a Semiconductor Industry Association letter backing Biden’s call for more semiconductor and 5G telecommunications spending.
When the chips are down, can 007 save the semiconductor?
Financial Times
As a child in the 1980s, you had a rich choice of debilitating worries. Some lay awake dreading nuclear war, others acid rain. For nerds like me, though, it was the terror of microchip supply disruption.
Electronics companies may take a hit as oxygen crisis sucks nitrogen out
ET Telecom
The government’s efforts to mitigate the oxygen crisis that’s affecting Covid-19 patients may cause a shortage of nitrogen, a gas critical for the electronics manufacturing industry.
Schumer’s Endless Frontier elicits bipartisan pushback
National Journal
“Basic research is essential to our innovation ecosystem. So is applied research,” said David Isaacs, the vice president of government affairs at the Semiconductor Industry Association, one of the most enthusiastic industry backers of Endless Frontier. “The federal government needs to be doing more of both, full stop. I don’t view it as a one-or-the-other thing.”
U.S. auto dealers are winners as chip shortage lifts vehicle profits
Reuters
Mike Bowsher shakes his head in wonder when he hears yet another customer at one of his Buick-GMC dealerships near Atlanta has agreed to pay full sticker price of more than $71,000 for a top-of-the-line GMC Yukon XL Denali SUV that is still being assembled at a General Motors (GM.N) factory.
Senators introduce bill to increase US technology competitiveness against China
The Hill
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) on Friday introduced a bill to improve U.S. competitiveness against China and other nations by strengthening the nation’s ability to set standards around emerging technologies.
China Warns Large Tech Firms as Industry Faces Rising Oversight
WSJ
China is reining in the ability of the country’s internet giants to use big data for lending, money-management and similar businesses, ending an era of rapid growth that authorities said posed dangers for the financial system.
China on way to self reliance in 28-nm chips; to attain maturity in 14-mm category as well
TeleComLead
In China, major players have stepped up efforts to combat the current shortage by engaging in new production plans and expanding the existing ones. With the support from the government, the semiconductor industry in China is expected to attain self-reliance in popular technologies very soon.