Semiconductor Weekly | 20231206

1. According to Taiwanese media Economic Daily, TSMC’s 3nm has once again won an exclusive order from Qualcomm, changing the rumors reported in May that Qualcomm intended to restart the dual foundry model between Samsung and TSMC. The industry generally believes that TSMC's 3nm customer base continues to expand, reappearing in queues, continuing to reflect the dividends of technology leaders, and the advantages of production economic scale will be reflected in performance from 2024 to 2025.


2. According to domestic media reports, the United States will continue to escalate its control of chips due to concerns about China catching up in the field of cutting-edge semiconductors. According to U.S. officials, Nvidia will continue to be targeted. Even if they adjust advanced chips and try to meet export standards, they will still be punished.


3. On November 28, the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Organization (WSTS) announced its latest forecast for the semiconductor market. As the popularity of generative AI has driven a surge in demand for related semiconductor products, and storage demand is expected to show a significant recovery, the global semiconductor sales estimate in 2024 has been raised from the previous estimate (June 6) of US$575.997 billion. It was revised to US$588.364 billion, an annual increase of 13.1%, surpassing US$574.084 billion in 2022 and setting a record high.


4. According to the Taiwan Economic Daily cited by the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, Samsung has issued a CIS price increase notice to customers today. The average price increase in the first quarter of next year will be as high as 25%, and the price increase for individual products can be as high as 30%.


5. According to China’s Taiwan Electronic Times quoted by Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, the material shortage problem in the semiconductor industry has not improved, especially for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are already in short supply and cannot find alternative products. At present, the material shortage has no time to improve and prices continue to soar. The global semiconductor supply chain can only passively wait for demand to cool down.


6. According to the China Taiwan Economic Daily quoted by the Financial Associated Press, IC design industry sources said that TSMC will resume price discounts for some mature processes next year after three years, with a range of about 2%. Another IC design factory revealed that the discount provided by TSMC is settled after the entire quarter's production is completed, and the discount will be offset from the photomask cost of the next quarter.