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China’s EV Battery Lead Appears Unassailable

By George Leopold

What’s at stake:
If any nation can ride out a projected slump in EV demand, it’s China and its EV powerhouses, battery maker CATL and car maker BYD.

Demand for still-pricey battery EVs is plateauing, at least outside the booming Chinese market, but some industry analysts predict a rebound is possible over the next 18 months when a second wave of adoption gathers steam across Asia, Europe and the U.S.

An upturn in battery EV adoption is bound to solidify China’s stranglehold on the global EV battery and materials supply web. The sector is dominated by China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., which currently controls 37 percent of the global battery market. Better known as CATL, the industry leader along with Chinese EV juggernaut BYD provide lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries for all Tesla EVs made in China.

Read More »China’s EV Battery Lead Appears Unassailable

1.6T Ethernet IP Poses Options for Hyperscalers

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
On the 25th year anniversary of its design IP business, Synopsys has a new 1.6 T Ethernet IP with differentiated features. The EDA company could potentially court big guns in the datacenter market. But can it compete with merchant semiconductor companies?

Synopsys has rolled out what it calls “the industry’s first complete 1.6T Ethernet IP solutions” – consisting of 224G Ethernet PHY IP, multi-channel/multi-rate Ethernet controllers supporting up to 1.6T and its verification IP.

Synopsys is poised to move up the food chain from chips to system designs, by working directly with prominent system companies, such as hyperscalers, interested in designing custom silicon tailored to their own needs.

Meanwhile, leading networking semiconductor suppliers such as Marvell and Broadcom, who have launched similar 1.6T Ethernet chips, also claim they are already aligned with hyperscalers.

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Infineon Builds Fortress SiC: Foresight or Overreach?

Infineon Builds Fortress SiC: Foresight or Overreach?

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake?

Infineon Technologies is fast becoming a silicon carbide powerhouse, fortified by sourcing alliances and spendings on fabs running into billions of dollars in addition to sales deals with OEM customers. As its capital outlay grows, however, the question arises: is Infineon doing too much in a market that is still struggling to find its feet? Or are these prescient moves for which the company’s management deserve credit?

Infineon Technologies AG on Wednesday unexpectedly said it was reorganizing its global sales organization. Infineon, said CMO Andreas Urschitz, wants to position itself “for ambitious growth by further strengthening and streamlining its sales organization.”

The terse, 3-paragraph statement announcing the decision is atypical of Infineon, hinting that more changes may be afoot at Europe’s leading semiconductor vendor.

Read More »Infineon Builds Fortress SiC: Foresight or Overreach?
Japan's Bet on Jim Keller: Why?

Japan Bets on Jim Keller: Why?

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
Japan’s ability to secure the chip supply and protect national security would require it to build leading-edge semiconductor fabs and AI technologies. Japan is giving Tenstorrent, a Canadian startup, the job of leading its national AI/RISC-V/chiplet project.

Japan’s chipmaking challenge is colossal. It will take herculean effort and staggering investment to bring up a 2-nm process technology at Rapidus, its startup foundry, by 2027.

Given the many national tech projects that have failed under the guidance of the Japanese government, recent media headlines such as “Japan’s comeback in semiconductor manufacturing” make some industry observers in Japan cringe.

Nonetheless, as the Ojo-Yoshida Report learned recently from semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendors and EDA suppliers, contracts are getting signed. Hardware and software tools are heading to Sapporo, where Rapidus is building a fab.

Read More »Japan Bets on Jim Keller: Why?
Wolfspeed Needed a Lifeline, it Got Govt. and Executive Hubris Instead

Wolfspeed Ails but What Exactly Is the Problem?

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake?

Wolfspeed Inc.’s market value is not in alignment with the positive stories about its position and profile in the silicon carbide market. In essence, its market dominance is not reflected in its market valuation. Wall Street is heavily discounting the stock. Why? Plus, with valuation this low, Wolfspeed is an appealing acquisition target. What’s stopping buyers from making a move?

Wolfspeed Inc., by all measures, should be the shiniest star in the silicon carbide (SiC) galaxy.

It prides itself as the “only pure-play vertically integrated silicon carbide company.” This means Wolfspeed is in the enviable position of owning, controlling and operating its own wafer-sourcing and production supply chain.

This vertical operating structure – a long abandoned system in the regular silicon semiconductor market – is a strength in the SiC segment, putting Wolfspeed in the uniquely advantageous position of being a prime beneficiary of the surging demand for SiC devices from the electronics, power and energy markets. Investors should be swooning over its stocks. They are instead paring back its valuation. There are a few reasons behind this, but none appear compelling. Do potential buyers of Wolfspeed shares know more than the average observer? Even this is not clear.

Read More »Wolfspeed Ails but What Exactly Is the Problem?
Intel CEO Asks Altman $7 Trillion Question

Intel CEO Asks Altman $7 Trillion Question

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
If Sam Altman is right, we are heading into the world where more content are generated by AI than by humans. We don’t know its implications, neither Altman does.

I had the good fortune to see and listen to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, live at the Intel Foundry event this week.

Was I glad to be there? Yes, because I saw firsthand the emperor with no clothes. More accurately, perhaps a nothingburger without a bun.

The venue for this alleged world leader in AI was a fireside chat with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger.

Read More »Intel CEO Asks Altman $7 Trillion Question
Foundry Dreams Spotlighted at Intel-Palooza

Foundry Dreams Spotlighted at Intel-Palooza

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
“Intel Foundry Day” was described by one executive as a “coming out party” to burnish the image of Intel Corp.’s foundry enterprise. This isn’t Intel’s first crack at wooing customers into its foundry. The thing is this: beyond building new fabs around the world, has Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger done enough to prove that his ‘IDM 2.0’ strategy for manufacturing, innovation and product leadership is also working for customers?

By lining up big guns like U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as “Foundry Day” speakers, Intel highlighted its power to pull strings and issue a reminder that it remains a heavyweight in the global semiconductor industry.

To establish itself as a credible, independent foundry, however, Intel must go beyond pageantry. 

Read More »Foundry Dreams Spotlighted at Intel-Palooza