Dan Nystedt

Rumor: TSMC plans to build a 2nd semiconductor manufacturing campus in the USA, with Dallas, Texas seen as a contender for six fabs, media report, citing chip equipment makers. The move is aimed at satisfying demand from customers for USA production, and reducing supply chain risks, the report says, adding TSMC declined comment. $TSM $NVDA $AAPL $GOOGL $AMZN $AVGO #semiconductors https://t.co/2u7vz8E8tY

Europe’s top semiconductor research center, IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre) in Belgium, has joined TSMC’s Open Innovation Platform (OIP) alliance to help make it easier for European firms to access TSMC’s advanced fabs and packaging lines, media report, adding its commercial division, IC-Link, will become the first chip design service provider to offer Cloud-managed design services that support multiple EDA vendors – allowing teams to mix and match software tools from Synopsys, Cadence, and Siemens. $TSM $SNPS $CDNS #imec #semiconductors https://t.co/Lf59fO9Gbu

There is no need to worry about China memory chip makers ramping up production as they are coming to rescue the market - the shortage of memory chips will likely persist into 2029, said Phison Electronics CEO K.S Pua, media report. https://t.co/Djv2D9U1SX

ABF substrate price hikes are boosting earnings, as Kinsus Interconnect reported its net income in August rose 353.9% year-on-year to NT$817 million, EPS NT$1.59, on record high revenue of NT$4.81 billion, media report, adding the company was asked by financial regulators to report August earnings. Kinsus has raised capex twice this year, NT$19.6 billion, in response to the severe ABF substrate shortage. https://t.co/wCHNr7DQTn

TSMC plans to raise prices 3% to 6% in January 2027, with higher increases for advanced manufacturing processes, DigiTimes reports, adding TSMC’s visibility now extends to 2030. Prices for older chips and specialty processes will also rise, as TSMC’s older fabs are running full (utilization) amid strong AI demand for power management chips (PMIC), microcontrollers, (MCUs), MOSFETs, MEMs, driver ICs, etc., as well as advanced packaging related: optical communications, silicon interposers, etc. Rival foundries are likely to follow TSMC’s price increases. The report also says TSMC price increases are likely to continue due to cost pressures f…

Prices of silicon wafers used in semiconductor production are set to rise in 2027 as more firms ink long term agreements (LTAs), media report, noting capacity expansion for both memory and logic chips is fueling demand. 12-inch Epitaxial wafers: estimated up 15%-25% 12-inch Polished Wafers: seen up over 40% for most, 50% for 2nd tier clients GlobalWafers, Taiwan’s biggest maker, is seen at $122 average selling prices (ASPs) in 2027, up from $92 for 12-inch silicon wafers this year, and up to $166 in 2028. Shipments are seen rising to 16.174 million wafers per quarter next year, from 11.907 million per quarter this year. https://t.co/HXxlgTiC…

Taiwan sees “crazy demand” for iPhone 18 Pro series, media report, as two of the top 3 telcos, Taiwan Mobile and Far Eastone, reported a 70% year-on-year surge in the first 3-days of sales. Chunghwa Telecom said sales volumes rose 60%. Burgundy turned out to be among the most popular new colors, and more subscribers opted for higher-tier payment plans. $AAPL Links: https://t.co/BNwsvDB6Dk https://t.co/21UT8qxcbI https://t.co/iHPW2mZgCX

TSMC-made 2nm chips have already hit the market in Apple iPhone 18 Pro series phones, while more are on the way soon, media report: Xiaomi 18 Pro series (Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 inside, 2nm) Vivo X500 Pro / Pro Max Oppo Find X10 Pro Max (Vivo & Oppo both to launch soon with MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro 2nm chips) $QCOM $TSM #mediatek https://t.co/AmMykSUAzK

Taiwan’s August export orders soared 71.4% year-on-year to a fresh record high US$102.96 billion, media report, beating the 63% growth expected. AI-related demand led, but a surge in custom ASIC chip design orders caused August’s upside surprise, said W.C. Huang, director-general of Taiwan’s statistics bureau. Orders for ICT (information and communications technology) rose 100.5% year-on-year to $34.21B, while electronics +83.9% to $45.75 billion. Orders from the US led all others, +88.9% to $42.13B, while ASEAN +70.5% to $18.35B. September export orders are expected to top August’s, with $106B to $109.1B the official range. Third quarter …

Microsoft’s self-developed AI chips will be in mass production in 2027 as all work on design and capacity allocation remains smooth, media report, citing the head of Microsoft Taiwan, Sean Pien. Prior leaks had put production in the 2nd half of 2026. Pien said in the near term, the chips will power Microsoft’s internal needs, and won’t be open for third party use. He said the chips will drive down overall computing costs. $MSFT #semiconductors https://t.co/hEtlUTBJol

Microsoft has doubled its Taiwan AI data center plan to four from 2 due to strong demand, media report, adding they will be located in the northern Taiwan towns of Gueishan and Luzhu. The top data center clients for Microsoft in Taiwan are semiconductor firms and other high tech companies, the report says, citing the head of Microsoft Taiwan. $MSFT Links: https://t.co/Ly5oLF1LPU https://t.co/m8goEcAKtp

China’s 3 top display screen panel makers, BOE, TCL CSOT and HKC, issued price increases to clients in a coordinated move, and said they will cut production during China’s Golden Week holiday (Oct. 1-7), media report, calling it a clear attempt to drive up prices. The 3 companies hold over 60% of the global LCD panel market. The price hikes will take effect as early as this month. https://t.co/BaF02A7p7V

Micron faces a strike at one Taiwan location, Taoyuan, after mediation talks with the union there collapsed, media report. The union said it will move forward with a strike vote since Micron failed to address the issue employees care most about, a profit-sharing system, which the union remains open to discuss. Micron's talks with another union in Taichung will resume Oct. 22 (10/22). $MU #semiconductors Links: https://t.co/r9e29BlcZj https://t.co/j4w0l96DZ5 https://t.co/3CILFSPLzR

TSMC will begin 1.4nm (A14) trial production in the 1st quarter next year, media report, and equipment is already being moved-in to Hsinchu’s Fab 20 (P3). TSMC’s Fab 25 in Taichung, central Taiwan, will be the second 1.4nm fab, with phase 1 construction to finish in April, and trial production to begin as early as the 3rd quarter-2027. Taichung will be the main A14 cluster. The A14 timeline is ahead of schedule, something TSMC had noted during its 2nd quarter earnings call in July. $TSM #semiconductors https://t.co/4R2aLXQgp0

Doubtful. CXMT stole Samsung's DRAM production technology – roughly 600 process steps – through former Samsung employees, according to South Korean court findings. One former Samsung engineer who became a founding CXMT employee testified that CXMT's CEO and CTO intended from the beginning to use Samsung's PRP rather than develop their own process. People involved have received prison sentences. That could become a serious problem if CXMT tries to sell DRAM globally. China is different: CXMT isn't going to be kicked out of its home market. Beijing may ultimately pressure Samsung into some kind of licensing deal. We'll see what happens. To be…

TSMC could see a monthly record high NT$520 billion in September revenue, a catalyst to propel the Taiwan Stock Exchange in early October, media report, citing institutional analysts. TSMC reports September revenue on Oct. 8 (10/8). The current all-time-high is August’s NT$514.81B. $TSM #semiconductors https://t.co/U15NuVZsrq

TSMC plans to build advanced semiconductor fabs in the proposed Shalun science park in Tainan, south Taiwan, which is focused on semiconductors and AI, media report, adding the park would hold 248.77-hectares of land, create 35,000 jobs, and aims to hit an annual output value of NT$2.2 trillion. Several environmental hurdles must be overcome for the park, including heavy power consumption estimated at 23.7 billion kWh per year (maximum load), enough to power a city, which may impact the southern power grid. Officials have asked TSMC to build green energy sources to help out. In addition, a protected owl and endangered pheasant live in the ar…

TSMC will be on hand at the groundbreaking for the Baipu Industrial Park in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan today as it plans to turn part of the park into a proving ground for advanced packaging equipment, media report, adding the 88.73-hectare park is fully booked, with TSMC taking the entire south side. The park is designed for R&D and for qualifying and certifying equipment and materials. $TSM #semiconductors https://t.co/4m6XVlLoRa

UMC and Powerchip are planning big price hikes for mature chip production amid continued strong demand and transfer orders as TSMC phases out older fabs, media report, with UMC planning a “substantial” price hike and Powerchip looking at up to a 40% hike. Vanguard (VIS) has also seen demand surge, mainly as it is seen as the key winner of business from TSMC’s move away from legacy nodes. TSMC holds nearly a 30% stake in VIS, a longtime partner. $UMC $TSM #PSMC #VIS #semiconductors https://t.co/nMY5QfkZRp

Micron described talks with Taiwan union leaders on Friday (9/18) as “constructive”, adding they would hold a second mediation with government officials on Tuesday (9/22), media report. Topics ranged from the bonus system and overall compensation to non-retaliation provisions and ensuring non-union workers would NOT receive any benefits won by the unions (no free ride clause). $MU #semiconductors https://t.co/E5myAha6aZ

TSMC has inspected two AUO plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park for possible purchase and transformation into advanced semiconductor packaging facilities, media report, noting both plants are near TSMC facilities. AUO has sold 3 plants so far this year for a total NT$34.7 billion (US$1.1B). The company used to be one of the world’s biggest makers of LCD panels, which it still produces, but it has been transforming its business to higher end products like specialty screens, Micro LED and advanced semiconductor packaging. $TSM https://t.co/6wutDt3cv7 Related: TSMC’s visits to AUO plants may also have to do with its plans for CoPoS advance…

Intel is in talks with Taiwan’s AUO for advanced packaging aimed at CPO (co-packaged optics), due to AUO’s work on Micro LED technology, media report, a project that also uses glass substrates. The two may also work together on advanced packaging for high-density compute. $INTC #AUO #semiconductors https://t.co/wG75hyHPwo

Headline: TSMC prices are up 10%, prompting AMD to hike Q4 chip prices. (Note this story cites last week’s news that AMD will raise prices 10% in response to higher supply chain prices to mean that TSMC has raised prices 10%. Not news.) $TSM $AMD https://t.co/ltEMBqOuqn

TSMC will have four new 1.4nm fabs in mass production of 120,000 to 140,000 wafers-per-month (wpm) by the 2nd quarter of 2028 in the Central Taiwan Science Park near the city of Taichung, media report, assuming a price-per-wafer of US$35,000 each. Construction has sped up so that the 2nd fab can catch up with the 1st and be in mass production by end-2027. The 1st fab is set for trial production by April next year. Major clients are already reserving capacity, including Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Broadcom. $TSM $NVDA $AAPL $QCOM $AVGO #mediatek #semiconductors https://t.co/7t6bmNxNxo

Nexperia, the Dutch automotive chipmaker, has tapped Tata Electronics to manufacture and package its power control chips (MOSFETs) in India, Reuters reports, the first major publicly announced foundry + packaging client for Tata, which has also been in talks with Analog Devices, NXP, others. Taiwan’s PSMC teamed up with Tata on its 300mm fab, including design, construction, training engineers, and licensing production technology. #India #Tata #semiconductors https://t.co/tHvw3H7b7E

Applied Materials, the US’s biggest chip equipment maker, plans to invest $5 billion in India over the next decade, including in a 140-acre advanced semiconductor research park with cleanroom, media report, adding it will double its India R&D workforce. $AMAT #India #semiconductors https://t.co/f321GjZnNc

Japan and the US are in talks for a ¥2–3 trillion (up to US$19.3 billion) chip fab in the US to be operated by GlobalFoundries, Nikkei Asia reports, seen as a project from Japan’s US$550 billion tariff-related US investment commitment. $GFS #semiconductors https://t.co/bUcvhGVWFK

TSMC plans to build three fabs for sub-1.4nm and tinier chip manufacturing in Longtan, north Taiwan, with the first to be ready for mass production by 2030, media report, adding the investment is seen at over NT$1 trillion (US$31.4B). The report cites unnamed industry sources. The science park expansion plan approved by the National Development Council (NDC) marks a return to Longtan for TSMC, which abandoned the area in 2023 amid protests. The NDC’s okay is just the first of several steps for project. $TSM #semiconductors https://t.co/WwtjBRiSme

Unimicron sees ABF substrates production capacity expanding 30%-40% in 2027 as it brings on a new plant, optimizes existing production lines and repurposes some BT process lines to ABF, media report. The company has also started shipping CPO (Co-Packaged Optics) substrates to multiple clients. https://t.co/enUooYpf6E

Taiwan electricity rates for heavy users like the semiconductor industry are expected to remain unchanged after a meeting this Friday to determine new pricing at state-run Taipower, media report, adding the government’s goal is to stabilize electricity prices. Longer term, the rate committee must decide to take a gradual approach to price increases or freeze rates. $TSM #semiconductors https://t.co/jGy8cxGuNe