01 Industry policy(Mar. 27)

Dutch Government actively responds to Eindhovens call and invests heavily to retain technology giants

Recently, the outgoing Dutch cabinet is vigorously advancing a plan called the Beethoven Action, aiming to retain technology giants such as ASML and NXP through a series of measures. The government will invest a large amount of funds in this plan. Although the specific amount is still under the final negotiations between the government, enterprises, and regions, it has been determined to include at least 1bn euros of additional funds. In addition, the government also plans to accelerate the use of reserved funds and conduct a comprehensive review of existing funds to support the business community, to release more financial space to support significant development in the Eindhoven region.

In the package of plans by the outgoing cabinet, the government has decided to invest approximately 500mn euros in infrastructure construction, mainly to strengthen the connection of highways and railways around Eindhoven, to further optimize the transportation network in the region and provide convenience for the operation of technology companies. 

It is worth noting that these technology companies, known as "brain harbors", have a particularly urgent need for technical talents. To this end, the government has allocated a special fund of 900mn euros, and plans to provide an additional 100mn euros per year, specially to support the expansion and development of Einhoven University of Technology to meet the urgent needs of technology companies for technical talents. At the same time, MBO and HBO courses in the region will also receive funding support，to cultivate more high-quality professional talents.

Comments:

The Dutch governments "Beethoven Action" is undoubtedly an important attempt to meet the current challenges of high-tech industry development. As a technology giant, ASMLs expansion plan is of great significance for the economic growth and technological progress of the Netherlands. However, with the expansion of business, the problems of housing and transportation of employees and the shortage of talents have become the bottleneck that constrains companies’ development.

Through the Beethoven Action, the government has shown its appreciation and support for companies such as ASML. It not only plans to invest a large amount of money in infrastructure construction, but also considers additional investment in universities to train more high-quality talents who meet companies’ requirements. These measures help alleviate the housing and transportation pressure faced by ASML and provide it with a stable talent reserve.

However, for 20,000 employees planned to be hired by ASML, the existing construction of affordable housing is clearly inadequate for them. The government has to think more deeply about how to solve the housing and transportation problems of employees while ensuring the development of enterprises, to ensure that these companies can truly stay in the Netherlands and continue to contribute to its economic growth.

In addition, if the Netherlands cannot provide sufficient qualified talents locally, ASML may consider transferring its business overseas. This will bring great losses to the economic development and technological innovation of the Netherlands. Therefore, in addition to increasing talent cultivation efforts, the government should also actively create a good business environment to attract more international talents to the Netherlands.

02 Company Trend(Mar. 26)

The yield of Samsungs 3nm chips up 3 times!

Recently, media reported on Samsung Electronics progress in the 3nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process field. Although its yield has increased from the original 10% to 20% to the range of 30% to 60%, it still fails to catch up with its competitor TSMC. TSMC has also shown strong momentum in terms of production capacity, with a plan to significantly increase its production of 3nm wafers to about 100,000 units per month this year, making it increasingly difficult for Samsung to catch up TSMC in the foundry market.

Despite the challenges, Samsung does not give up. It is reported that the company is making every effort to invest in the R&D of the second-generation 3nm GAA process, aiming to achieve technological breakthroughs in power consumption, performance, and logic region. It is rumored that the yield of the process is comparable to that of TSMCs N3P node, which is undoubtedly a positive signal.

However, technological breakthroughs alone will not be enough for Samsung to regain market acceptance. A report pointed out that to attract former customers such as Qualcomm back, Samsung has to further increase its yield to over 70%. In the current situation, these companies seem more inclined to choose TSMC as a more stable partner, and Samsung still faces significant market pressure for the foreseeable future.

Comments:

Considering the current situation of TSMCs tight production capacity, Samsung Electronics progress in the 3nm GAA process field provides the possibility for it to catch up in the foundry market. Although the yield has not yet reached TSMCs level, Samsung has shown a catching up trend. The limitations of TSMCs production capacity provide Samsung with a living space, especially in the context of sustained global semiconductor demand growth.

Samsungs R&D investment in the second generation 3nm GAA process and the rumored yield comparable to that of TSMCs N3P node are both positive signals. However, to truly compete with TSMC, Samsung still has to make breakthroughs in yield, production capacity, and customer trust. Especially when it comes to winning back key customers such as Qualcomm, Samsung will have to demonstrate higher product quality and stability.

03 Company Trend(March.26)

Renowned panel manufacturer to be sold or discontinue production!

According to report of Kyodo News, Sharp Corp is faced with tough decisions as it considers shrinking and possibly selling or halting its heavily loss-making LCD panel business. It is learned that the fate of Sakai Display Products Co., Ltd. (SDP), the tenth generation LCD panel factory located in Sakai City, is in jeopardy, and it may undergo significant changes in the next six months.

Sharp has been hit hard in display business in recent years, and suffered from loss again in the FY2022,dipping into the red after five years. The senior management of the company believes that in the current market environment, it is difficult for the LCD panel business to quickly recover profitability, so accelerating the improvement of the financial system has become its urgent task. According to internal forecasts, Sharp is expected to experience losses for the second consecutive year in FY2023(as of March 31, 2024), with the LCD department, especially the SDP factory, hit by particularly severe losses, expected to be 10bn yen.

Faced with continuous financial pressure, Sharp has begun looking for potential buyers for SDP, but it has not yet received any positive response so far. At the same time, halting production is also seen as a possible option of the company and will be included in its medium-term business plan to be announced soon. However, uncertainties remain as Sharp is a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry and any final decision on SDP would require in-depth coordination with the parent company.

Comments:

In recent years, the LCD panel market has undergone unprecedented changes. With the rapid rise of Chinese panel companies such as BOE, TCL CSOT, and HKC, the competitive landscape of the LCD panel market is becoming increasingly fierce. These companies have gradually expanded their share of the global market by expanding production capacity and increasing output, which has led to a decline in the overall profitability of the LCD panel market. At the same time, the rise of new display technologies such as OLED and Mini/Micro LED has provided new development opportunities for panel manufacturers and intensified market competition.

Against this background, Japanese and Korean manufacturers such as Samsung, LGD, Panasonic, JDI are faced with great challenges. Due to the continuous compression of profit margins in the LCD business, and even the occurrence of losses, these enterprises have made business adjustments and transformations to seize opportunities in high-end markets such as OLED, improve profitability, and maintain their global competitiveness.

The business adjustment of Sharp, a leading enterprise in LCD display technology, has naturally attracted widespread attention of the industry. Sharps cautious attitude when mentioning the LCD display business is not only a concern about its own profit and loss, but also a reflection of the uncertainty of the future direction of the entire industry. The final decision of Sharp this time will undoubtedly become a key factor affecting the global LCD panel market landscape.

04 Company Trend(Mar. 28)

UK’s first 12 inch wafer fab opens

Pragmatic Semiconductor, a leader in the UK chip industry, today grandly opened its latest manufacturing facility, Pragmatic Park, in Durham. The establishment of this fab marks a significant breakthrough for the UK in the global semiconductor field.

According to the CEO of Pragmatic Semiconductor, the new fab is the first production facility in the UK to produce 300mm semiconductor wafers, and will have a capacity to produce billions of flexible chips annually. Innovative applications such as smart packaging, wearable devices, sensors and flexible controllers will all be manufactured at the new fab.

Her Royal Highness was present at the opening ceremony to unveil the plaque for this historic moment. The participants also included many customers, partners, investors and government officials. The opening of the fab is not only a recognition of the Pragmatic teams hard work, but also an important step taken by the UK on the global semiconductor stage.

Pragmatic Semiconductors new facility, able to accommodate up to nine production lines, will provide a significant boost to the UK semiconductor industry. Last year, the company successfully secured grants of £182mn to further scale up its production and build more production lines. Looking ahead, Pragmatic Semiconductor will continue to be committed to innovation, bringing more cutting-edge technological products for global consumers.

Comments:

The new fab established by Pragmatic Semiconductor, a British chip startup, in Durham marks that UK made significant breakthrough in the semiconductor industry. However, looking back at the development of Pragmatic, it is not difficult to find that the UK government did not support its semiconductor industry sufficiently. Last year, companies such as Pragmatic threatened to relocate their businesses overseas due to a lack of government support, highlighting the competitive disadvantage of the UK in this field.

In contrast, the US and EU governments have provided chip manufacturers with billions of dollars in funding support, which not only promotes the development of local industries but also attracts the attention of global enterprises. Although the UK government eventually provided £1bn of funds to support its semiconductor industry according to its strategy, this amount is still insufficient and relatively late compared with other countries.

Although this strategy has received praise from people who believe that it focuses on key areas such as chip design, R&D, and compound semiconductors, more people believe that it is just a drop in the bucket. The UK has a strong chip design and R&D capabilities, but due to the lack of sufficient financial support, it is difficult to translate many excellent innovative ideas   into actual productivity.

The opening of Pragmatics new fab has brought a glimmer of hope to the UK, but in order to truly make itself stand out on the global semiconductor stage, the UK government needs to increase investment and provide more comprehensive support. This covers financial support, tax incentives, talent trainings, R&D cooperation and other aspects.

05 Domestic Trend

Huawei disclosed its patent of quadruple exposure process, bringing hope for domestic 5nm chips?(Mar. 28)
Company Trend Recently, CNIPA announced a number of new patents obtained by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., one of which is the patent numbered CN117751427A. This patent involves a self-aligned quadruple patterned semiconductor device production method and semiconductor device, and has attracted widespread attention in the industry, drawing wide attention of the industry. The patent is regard as another major breakthrough in the multi-exposure chip manufacturing process, and western media speculate that through this technology, China will be able to produce 5nm chips at home. In this way, China will bypass US technology sanctions in manufacturing of advanced chips, thus reducing dependence on ASML lithography machines, and achieving technological independence.

Huawei announced in its patent that implementing the embodiments of the application, the freedom of circuit pattern design can be improved. Simply put, multiple exposure is a process in which the etching of chip circuit mask patterns is carried out in multiple stages. Through this process, relatively backward technology and equipment can be used to achieve results similar to or even more advanced processes, such as using a 7nm mask aligner to produce 5nm chips. As a result, Chinese enterprises can produce advanced chips without ASMLs most advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment (EUV).

A new chip breaks monopoly and achieves domestic production! (Mar. 26)

Recently, a team led by Li Wanwan, a researcher at the School of Materials Science and Engineering and Zhangjiang Institute for Advanced Study, SJTU, has successfully developed a quantum dot liquid biochip multi-index in vitro detection system.
Liquid biochip technology is a new detection technology suitable for nucleic acid and protein markers, features high detection throughput and sensitivity, and can be used to analyze dozens of targets in a single tube sample at the same time to significantly improve the detection efficiency. The core of the technology is the special fluorescent polymer microspheres and corresponding signal analysis, featuring high technical barriers, high manufacturing difficulties, and monopoly by western countries for a long time. It is a typical bottleneck problem in the field of in vitro diagnosis.
With 18 years of hard work, Li Wanwans team achieved a technological breakthrough in the whole chain from quantum dot fluorescent microspheres, detection analyzer to supporting detection reagents, and successfully created a quantum dot liquid biochip technology platform with independent intellectual property rights.
At present,  the series of detectors and supporting test kits have obtained EU CE certification and 15 items of Chinese NMPA medical device registration certificates. With the ability to compete with similar high-end foreign technology and equipment, they are promoted to use globally, which breaks the monopoly of international large companies.

Shenzhen: Wafer manufacturing equipment to achieve breakthrough from 0 to 1(Mar. 27)

In recent years, Shenzhen has continuously improved its policy support system, increased support for strategic emerging industries and future industries, and promoted the transformation and upgrading of equipment manufacturing towards precision manufacturing and high-end intelligent manufacturing. Now, Shenzhen has issued Several Measures for Promoting High Quality Development of High End Equipment Industry Clusters in Shenzhen, which is undoubtedly great news for the industry of semiconductor equipment, including wafer manufacturing equipment.

The full text is as follows:

In order to implement the planning and deployment of the "20+8" strategic emerging industries and future industry clusters by the Municipal Party Committee and Government, and enhance the basic support role of equipment industry clusters, based on the Opinions of the Peoples Government of Guangdong Province on Cultivating and Developing Strategic Pillar Industrial Clusters and Strategic Emerging Industrial Clusters, the Opinions of the Shenzhen Municipal Peoples Government on Developing and Strengthening Strategic Emerging Industry Clusters and Cultivating and Developing Future Industries, and the Implementation Plan of the General Office of Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government on Accelerating the Development of New Productive Forces and Further Promoting the High-quality Development of Strategic Emerging Industrial Clusters and Future Industries, combined with the actual situation of our city, the measures are hereby formulated as follows.

These measures aim to accelerate the research and industrialized application and promotion of new products, technologies, and processes of industrial clusters such as mother machines, robots, precision instruments and equipment, rail transit equipment, marine engineering equipment, and high-tech vessels. For eligible products, platforms, and projects, key supports will be provided in terms of industrial policies, financial support, industrial space, talent rewards, platform services, etc. For major strategic original projects, special support will be provided through "major scientific and technological research projects + first set equipment policies + municipal government guidance fund support + post-award subsidies".