According to new data from Chinese Customs, China's imports of integrated circuits suffered their steepest annual drop on record in 2023, falling 15.4% to $349.4 billion. The decline marks the second straight year of falling chip imports and can be attributed to economic uncertainty and US export controls on advanced semiconductors. Shipment volumes of imported chips also saw a substantial 10.8% year-over-year decrease as demand within China stagnated. The country's important tech manufacturing sector has struggled under strict zero-Covid policies and a lackluster recovery post-pandemic. Flagship manufacturing companies like TSMC recorded modest declines in 2023 sales, though TSMC still forecasts overall growth this year.

Sentiment plunged further when the Biden administration heightened restrictions on China's access to cutting-edge AI-capable chips from NVIDIA and other top American suppliers. The escalating US export controls have choked off China's pipeline to advanced semiconductors needed for AI and supercomputing applications. However, early positive signs for global semiconductor demand have emerged, with worldwide chip sales rising for the first time in over a year this past November. The increase was driven by growing demand for AI and other emerging technologies that rely on advanced computing chips. While the US seeks to limit China's progress in this key strategic area, an inflection point for the battered global chip sector may be nearing.

The first review of a Chinese-exclusive "RTX 4090D" GPU model hit the internet last week—Expreview received a sample GALAX RTX 4090 D Metal Master model not long ago, and their testing team proceeded to find out whether the nerfed version of NVIDIA's flagship gaming GPU was truly compromised in terms of performance. Effective October 2023, the US Federal Trade Commission placed restrictions on Team Green—thus blocking trade of units based on the "Ada Lovelace" AD102-300 GPU in China. In turn, a variant—AD102-250-A1—was prepared in order to confirm to new policies.

NVIDIA's China-specific GeForce RTX 4090D launched officially right at the end of 2023. Board partner GALAX seems to be leading the pack, with customized versions being sent out for evaluation. The GeForce RTX 4090D GPU arrives with a lesser configuration: 14,592 CUDA, 456 Tensor, and 114 RT cores—but the first review indicates that this only trails behind its uncompromised sibling by roughly 5 to 6% across sixteen games. It lags behind in Stable Diffusion benchmarks—an AI workload at 512x512 resolution shows a 10% difference, although the gaps narrows at 768x768 and 1024x1024.

According to the latest teardown from TechInsights, China's biggest technology maker, Huawei, has been shipping laptops with technology supposedly sanctioned by the United States. As the teardown shows, TechInisights has discovered that Huawei's Kirin 9006C processor is manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm semiconductor technology. Originally, the United States have imposed sanctions on Huawei back in 2020, when the government cut off Huawei's access from TSMC's advanced facilities and forbade the use of the latest nodes by Huawei's HiSilicon chip design arm. Today's findings show signs of contradiction, as the Qingyun L540 notebook that launched in December 2023 employs a Kirin 9006C chipset manufactured on a TSMC 5 nm node.

TechInsight's findings indicate that Kirin 9006C assembly and packaging occurred around the third quarter of 2020, whereas the 2020 Huawei sanctions started in the second quarter. Of course, the implication of the sanctions likely prohibited any new orders and didn't prevent Huawei from possibly stockpiling millions of chip orders in its warehouse before they took place. The Chinese giant probably made orders beforehand and is using the technology only now, with the Qingyun L540 laptop being one of the first Kirin 9006C appearances. Some online retailers also point out that the laptop complies with the latest security practices required for the government, which means that they have been in the works since the chip began the early stages of design, way before 2020. We don't know the stockpile quantity, but SMIC's domestic efforts seem insufficient to supply the Chinese market alone. The news that Huawei is still using TSMC chips made SMIC's share go for a 2% free fall on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Global semiconductor capacity is expected to increase 6.4% in 2024 to top the 30 million *wafers per month (wpm) mark for the first time after rising 5.5% to 29.6 wpm in 2023, SEMI announced today in its latest quarterly World Fab Forecast report.

The 2024 growth will be driven by capacity increases in leading-edge logic and foundry, applications including generative AI and high-performance computing (HPC), and the recovery in end-demand for chips. The capacity expansion slowed in 2023 due to softening semiconductor market demand and the resulting inventory correction.

From all of us here at TechPowerUp, we wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2024! 2023 really blew by as civilization and society fully returned to normal with renewed spirits and determination. We hope and pray that this holds, and that together we make 2024 even better for everyone! It's been an equally eventful year for technology, hardware, and gaming, and we can't wait to tell you all about it, in our upcoming Holiday feature looking back into the year in tech!

Taiwanese power supply manufacturer FSP showcased upcoming products for 2023 and 2024. This included new power supply lineups with updated naming schemes - the entry-level VITA series, mid-range ADVAN series, and high-end MEGA and DAGGER series. The simplified naming clarifies the differentiation between affordable, mainstream, and premium offerings across wattages and efficiency certifications. Specific new PSU models include 1500+ Watts beasts for maxed-out systems, redundant server-class units ensuring uptime, and 80+ Titanium efficiency ratings for eco-conscious builds. Star of the show is FSP's flagship unit, which boasts a staggering 2500 Watts, 100% modular cabling, and cutting-edge 12V-2x6 PCIe Gen 5 graphics card power connectors.

Called the Cannon Pro, the 2500-watt power supply has four 12V-2x6 PCIe Gen 5 connectors to feed even the highest power-rated GPUs and the three 6+2-pin connectors. This new PSU is also rated for ATX 3.1 specifications, 80+ Platinum Specification, and the upgraded version of the 12VHPWR PCIe Gen 5 connector, supposedly overcoming all the issues, in the form of a 12V-2x6 PCIe Gen 5 connector. The PSU should be able to power four NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPUs simultaneously with its high capacity. Pricing and availability aren't specified, so we must wait for FSP to launch these products in 2024.

Today at the "AI Everywhere" event, Intel launched its 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors (code-named Emerald Rapids) that deliver increased performance per watt and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) across critical workloads for artificial intelligence, high performance computing (HPC), networking, storage, database and security. This launch marks the second Xeon family upgrade in less than a year, offering customers more compute and faster memory at the same power envelope as the previous generation. The processors are software- and platform-compatible with 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors, allowing customers to upgrade and maximize the longevity of infrastructure investments while reducing costs and carbon emissions.

"Designed for AI, our 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors provide greater performance to customers deploying AI capabilities across cloud, network and edge use cases. As a result of our long-standing work with customers, partners and the developer ecosystem, we're launching 5th Gen Intel Xeon on a proven foundation that will enable rapid adoption and scale at lower TCO." -Sandra Rivera, Intel executive vice president and general manager of Data Center and AI Group.

According to the latest Canalys forecasts, worldwide PC shipments are on the verge of recovery following seven consecutive quarters of decline. The market is expected to return to growth of 5% in Q4 2023, boosted by a strong holiday season and an improving macroeconomic environment. Looking ahead, full-year 2024 shipments are forecast to hit 267 million units, landing 8% higher than in 2023, helped by tailwinds including the Windows refresh cycle and emergence of AI-capable and Arm-based devices.

"The global PC market is on a recovery path and set to return to 2019 shipment levels by next year," said Canalys Analyst Ben Yeh. "The impact of AI on the PC industry will be profound, with leading players across OEMs, processor manufacturers, and operating system providers focused on delivering new AI-capable models in 2024. These initiatives will bolster refresh demand, particularly in the commercial sector. The total shipment share of AI-capable PCs is expected to be about 19% in 2024. This accounts for all M-series Mac products alongside the nascent offerings expected in the Windows ecosystem. However, as more compelling use-cases emerge and AI functionality becomes an expected feature, Canalys anticipates a fast ramp up in the development and adoption of AI-capable PCs."

A somewhat expected result of the November 17th export ban on RTX 4090 GPUs to China has been that AMD's top offerings; recently rumored to soon suffer the same fate, have been selling faster than AMD or its partners can make them. Predicting the worst, some OEMs such as Dell have allegedly already set their own self-imposed restrictions on the export of both Radeon and Instinct cards to China. Meanwhile insiders in board channels have not yet received any official warning that they can no longer sell RX 7900 XTXs or XTs to DIY markets, however vendors and consumers alike sense an oncoming storm and unable to get RTX 4090s are buying up as many of the high end Radeons as they can.

It's said that AMD's production capacity for this surge in sales has been underwhelming, and supply to Chinese board partners has been barely trickling in. This lack of incoming supply of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and XT, restriction or not, is creating a shortage of cards in China that is expected to impact the remainder of Q4 2023 and much of Q1 2024. With no immediate restrictions expected for AMD's top cards it's possible that they could react and ramp up exports to cover the demand, however that could be risky if AMD is trying to avoid being targeted.

Ericsson, a massive player in networking and cellular technology, has announced their new lineup of RAN Compute (Radio Access Network) processors as well as new high bandwidth routers built around in-house silicon designs fabbed on Intel 4, beating Intel's own Meteor Lake processors to market. These new processors are not something the average person is going to be using in their PCs or home routers, but they are pivotal in the reliability and speed of current and future generation 5G networking as the devices they power handle the ever increasing traffic and bandwidth demands of modern networks. In its press release Ericsson notes that the new RAN Processor 6672 and Radio Processor 6372 offer four times more capacity at twice the efficiency compared to their previous generation. They claim that the power draw of their new processors on Intel 4 is between 30% and 60% lower than the industry benchmarks.

Ericsson signed on as one of Intel's largest customers when Intel announced their "Intel Foundry Services" initiative under the IDM 2.0 strategy to offer chip designers the ability to fab their processors at Intel fabs. The strategy has - at least outwardly - appeared to be a boon to Intel as they've signed on large partnerships ranging from big budget defense contractors to datacenter clientele and even ARM. The new RAN Compute systems from Ericsson packed full of technology built on "Intel 4" even ahead of Intel's own designs exemplifies that Intel is at the very least committed to the strategy, and Ericsson has already announced plans for even more chips on Intel's "18A" process slated for 2025.

Uptake on AMD's latest generation mobile offerings has been slow and steady to put it mildly, but today TUXEDO Computers, a specialist in Linux notebooks at a range of performance and pricing tiers, has announced pre-orders for their new Sirius 16 gaming laptop. This machine combines AMD's latest generation Ryzen 7 7840HS "Phoenix" APU with a Radeon RX 7600M XT RDNA3 GPU inside a sleek all aluminium chassis design that strives to remain understated while still providing a "sleek gamer look" via programmable RGB keys. The Sirius 16 is TUXEDO's first go at an all-AMD configuration and they've held very little back, choosing to allow the full TDP rating of the Phoenix APU at 54 W sustained (or 80 W CPU-only turbo) as well as keeping the RDNA3 GPU at its rated 120 W TGP under full CPU+GPU loads. The Sirius 16 features venting out of both sides as well as the rear of the chassis, and roughly half of the bottom panel is open intake for the dual-fan cooling system.

Powering everything is a 230 W power brick and an 80 Wh replaceable battery bolted inside the chassis. TUXEDO claims up to 10 hours of battery life at minimum display brightness with wireless disabled and without any programmable lighting enabled, or a more realistic 6 hours at medium brightness with wireless enabled and under minimal "office work" load.

International Data Corporation (IDC) has upgraded its Semiconductor Market Outlook by calling a bottom and return to growth that accelerates next year. IDC raised its September 2023 revenue outlook from $518.8 billion to $526.5 billion in a new forecast. Revenue expectations for 2024 were also raised from $625.9 billion to $632.8 billion as IDC believes the U.S. market will remain resilient from a demand standpoint and China will begin recovering by the second half of 2024 (2H24).

IDC sees better semiconductor growth visibility as the long inventory correction subsides in two of the largest market segments: PCs and smartphones. Automotive and Industrials elevated inventory levels are expected to return to normal levels in 2H24 as electrification continues to drive semiconductor content over the next decade. Technology and large flagship product introductions will drive more semiconductor content and value across market segments in 2024 through 2026, including the introduction of AI PCs and AI Smartphones next year and a much-needed improvement in memory ASPs and DRAM bit volume.

The 62nd edition of the TOP500 reveals that the Frontier system retains its top spot and is still the only exascale machine on the list. However, five new or upgraded systems have shaken up the Top 10.

Housed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, USA, Frontier leads the pack with an HPL score of 1.194 EFlop/s - unchanged from the June 2023 list. Frontier utilizes AMD EPYC 64C 2GHz processors and is based on the latest HPE Cray EX235a architecture. The system has a total of 8,699,904 combined CPU and GPU cores. Additionally, Frontier has an impressive power efficiency rating of 52.59 GFlops/watt and relies on HPE's Slingshot 11 network for data transfer.

Thanks to the TMTPost interview with the Global Vice President and China President of ASML, Shen Bo, the Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer has revealed that around 1,400 of its deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography and metrology machines are currently installed in China. The company is expected to achieve a global output of 600 DUV equipment units by the end of 2025. Shen Bo stated that the company aims to install 500-600 units of DUV machinery in China by late 2025 or early 2026. The growth in ASML's Chinese revenues was notably high, with China contributing 46% of the company's system sales in 3Q 2023, representing an 82% revenue increase from the previous quarter.

China plans to build 25 12-inch wafer fabs in the next five years, covering logic wafers, DRAM, and MEMS production. ASML currently has a substantial presence in China, with 16 offices, 12 warehouses, distribution centers, development centers, training centers, and maintenance centers. The company employs over 1,600 people for its China operations. Despite the export restrictions imposed by the US government, ASML anticipates that the new measures will have little impact on its financial outlook for 2023 as it strives to meet the growing demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the global market.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NasdaqGS: SIMO) ("Silicon Motion", the "Company" or "we") today announced its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. For the third quarter of 2023, net sales (GAAP) increased sequentially to $172.3 million from $140.4 million in the second quarter of 2023. Net income (GAAP) decreased to $10.6 million, or $0.32 per diluted American Depositary Share of the Company ("ADS") (GAAP), from net income (GAAP) of $11.0 million, or $0.33 per diluted ADS (GAAP), in the second quarter of 2023.

For the third quarter of 2023, net income (non-GAAP) increased to $21.1 million, or $0.63 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), from net income (non-GAAP) of $12.6 million, or $0.38 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), in the second quarter of 2023.

Sanctuary beckons you forth, wanderer. On November 4, at 2:30 pm PDT, a glimpse into the future of Diablo IV will be revealed live to all at BlizzCon. Join associate game director Brent Gibson, production director Tiffany Wat, lead game producer Kalyeigh Calder, game director Joe Shely, and associate director of community Adam Fletcher, who will introduce content releasing during Season of Blood and beyond.

On the first day of BlizzCon, Q&A questions for the Campfire Chat will be gathered in-person from a box in the Diablo hall, along with any from social media. Then, we'll have a Q&A segment at the end of the stream where the team will answer questions collected from the community.

Apparently if you say "day one with Game Pass" three times in front of your mirror nothing actually happens, and you did that for nothing. But we do happen to have a bunch of day one games coming soon (and available today), so let's dive in!

Available Today
Headbangers: Rhythm Royale (Cloud, Console, and PC)—Available on day one with Game Pass: Headbangers puts you and 29 others into the eye of the Pigeon while you battle it out in rhythmic challenges to find out who is the ultimate Master Headbanger. Compete against each other in mind-bending musical minigames, screw over your competitors with powerups, and collect Crumbs to customize your very own Pigeon!

BlizzCon 2023 is almost here! For those tuning in from home, we'll be streaming all BlizzCon Arena content for free. Whether you plan to join in person or virtually, we wanted to share a first look at all the events in store. Visit Blizzard's YouTube channels or Twitch on November 3-4 to catch all the panels and programming below. BlizzCon is for the community, so feel free to share it with yours by co-streaming.

BlizzCon Collection - On Sale Now
Virtual attendees can also pick up the BlizzCon Collection, a new set of digital goodies and in-game items, in the Battle.net Shop now. These bundles are a must-have for any player journeying through World of Warcraft, Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble. Whether you're a seasoned hero or just starting your adventure, don't miss out. Visit the Battle.net Shop to purchase.

TSMC today announced consolidated revenue of NT$546.73 billion, net income of NT$211.00 billion, and diluted earnings per share of NT$8.14 (US$1.29 per ADR unit) for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023. Year-over-year, third quarter revenue decreased 10.8% while net income and diluted EPS both decreased 24.9%. Compared to second quarter 2023, third quarter results represented a 13.7% increase in revenue and a 16.1% increase in net income. All figures were prepared in accordance with TIFRS on a consolidated basis.

In US dollars, third quarter revenue was $17.28 billion, which decreased 14.6% year-over-year and increased 10.2% from the previous quarter. Gross margin for the quarter was 54.3%, operating margin was 41.7%, and net profit margin was 38.6%. In the third quarter, shipments of 3-nanometer accounted for 6% of total wafer revenue; 5-nanometer accounted for 37%; 7-nanometer accounted for 16%. Advanced technologies, defined as 7-nanometer and more advanced technologies, accounted for 59% of total wafer revenue.

A new forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that enterprises will invest nearly $16 billion worldwide on GenAI solutions in 2023. This spending, which includes GenAI software as well as related infrastructure hardware and IT/business services, is expected to reach $143 billion in 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 73.3% over the 2023-2027 forecast period. This is more than twice the rate of growth in overall AI spending and almost 13 times greater than the CAGR for worldwide IT spending over the same period.

"Generative AI is more than a fleeting trend or mere hype. It is a transformative technology with far-reaching implications and business impact," says Ritu Jyoti, group vice president, Worldwide Artificial Intelligence and Automation market research and advisory services at IDC. "With ethical and responsible implementation, GenAI is poised to reshape industries, changing the way we work, play, and interact with the world."

The downward spiral for PC shipments continued during the third quarter of 2023 (3Q23) as global volumes declined 7.6% year over year with 68.2 million PCs shipped, according to preliminary results from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. Though demand and the global economy remain subdued, PC shipments have increased in each of the last two quarters, slowing the rate of annual decline and indicating that the market has moved past the bottom of the trough.

PC inventory has also become leaner in the past few months and is near healthy levels in most channels. However, downward pressure on pricing persists and will likely remain an issue within the consumer and business sectors. While most of the top 5 vendors experienced double-digit declines during the quarter, Apple's outsized decline was the result of unfavorable year-over-year comparisons as the company recovered from a COVID-related halt in production during 3Q22. Meanwhile, HP's growth was largely due to the normalizing of inventory.

Announcing Steam Next Fest, a multi-day celebration of upcoming games. Save the date for our Next Fest, headed to Steam in October. Explore and play hundreds of game demos, watch developer livestreams, and chat with the teams about their games in progress, coming soon to Steam.

OCTOBER 9 - OCTOBER 16 @ 10:00AM PACIFIC—SEVEN DAYS, HUNDREDS OF DEMOS & HOURS OF DEVELOPER LIVESTREAMS
Explore and play hundreds of demos, choose from dozens of livestreams to watch, and chat with developers about their games. Steam Next Fest will take place from October 9th to 16th, 2023 @10:00AM Pacific. Sign up here to receive a reminder for when Steam Next Fest begins. See you then!

Today, Google announced its next generation of Chromebook devices, called the Chromebook Plus, said to improve upon the legacy set by Chromebooks over a decade ago. Starting at an enticing price point of $399, this new breed of Chromebooks integrates powerful AI capabilities and a range of built-in Google apps. Notably, it features tools like the Google Photos Magic Eraser and web-based Adobe Photoshop, positioning itself as a dynamic tool for productivity and creative exploration. In collaboration with hardware manufacturers such as Acer, ASUS, HP, and Lenovo, Google is launching a lineup of eight Chromebook Plus devices on the launch date, with more possibly coming in the future.

Each model boasts improved hardware configurations over the regular Chromebook, including processors like the Intel Core i3 12th Gen or the AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series, a minimum of 8 GB RAM, and 128 GB storage. Users are also in for a visual treat with a 1080p IPS display, ensuring crisp visuals for entertainment and work. And for the modern remote workforce, video conferencing gets a substantial upgrade. Every Chromebook Plus comes equipped with a 1080p camera and utilizes AI enhancements to elevate video call clarity, with compatibility spanning various platforms, including Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Set to be available from October 8, 2023, in the US and October 9 in Canada and Europe, the Chromebook Plus is positioning itself as the go-to device for many users. On the other hand, the AI features are slated for arrival in 2024, when companies ensure their software is compatible.Below you can see the upcoming models.

During the China Chip Storage Future 2023 Storage Industry Trend Summit, Yingren Technology, widely recognized as InnoGrit outside of China, announced the initiation of mass production of its enterprise-level YR S900 PCIe 5.0 SSD controller. Marking a significant breakthrough, the YR S900 stands as China's first domestic PCIe 5.0 SSD controller. Operating on an open-source RISC-V architecture, the YR S900 is engineered to align with U.S. export restrictions, ensuring a seamless design and manufacturing process of the SSD controller. While Yingren Technology remains discreet about the specific process node to produce the YR S900, it's known that the controller embodies a versatile design, with compatibility extending to mainstream NAND from eminent manufacturers, and exhibits an impressive synergy with NAND from Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC).

The YR S900 is a quad-channel controller, offering sequential read and write speeds peaking at 14 GB/s and 12 GB/s, respectively, and is equipped with InnoGrit's third-generation ECC engine to optimize 4K LDPC encoding and decoding. This collaboration with Kioxia's XL-Flash results in a low 4K random read latency of 10us, highlighting its potential to deliver higher data throughput, increased stability, and extended service life. The YR S900 encompasses a comprehensive feature set, including FDP, SR-IOV hardware virtualization, CMB, and a range of data encryption algorithms. While the mass production of the YR S900 underscores a monumental stride in SSD solutions within China, it remains to be seen whether adopting this new Chinese technology will enter markets beyond China.

It has been over four years since the release of the Raspberry Pi 4, and in that time a lot has changed in the maker board and single-board computer landscape. For the Raspberry Pi Foundation there were struggles with worldwide demand and production capacity brought on by the global pandemic starting in 2020, and plenty of new competitors came to the scene to offer ready to order alternatives to the venerable RPi 4. Today however the production woes have been assuaged and a new generation of Raspberry Pi is here; the Raspberry Pi 5.

Raspberry Pi 5 is being announced in advance of availability unlike every prior RPi device launch. Pre-orders are open with many of the listed Approved Resellers on RPi's website starting today but unit shipments aren't expected until near the end of October 2023. As part of this pre-order scheme, RPi Foundation is withholding pre-orders from bulk customers and will be dealing in single-unit sales for individuals until at least the end of the year, as well as running some promotions with The MagPi and HackSpace magazines to give priority access to their subscribers. Genuinely nice to see, considering how hard it was to obtain a Pi 4 for the average Joe over the last couple years. The two announced prices for the RPi 5 are $60 USD for the 4 GB variant, and $80 USD for the 8 GB variant; or about $5 USD more than current reseller pricing on comparable configurations of the Raspberry Pi 4.