DeepComputing, a pioneer in RISC-V innovation, today announced a strategic partnership with Andes Technology Corporation, a leading provider of high-efficiency, low-power 32/64-bit RISC-V processor cores. Together, the two companies collaborate to develop the world's first RISC-V AI PC, powered by Andes' 7 nm QiLai SoC. This innovated low-power PC will come equipped with Ubuntu Desktop and aims to redefine AI computing by combining industry-leading hardware and software designed specifically for RISC-V.

The collaboration marks a significant milestone in the evolution of AI PCs, which utilize artificial intelligence to enhance productivity, creativity, entertainment, security, and more. The power-efficient RISC-V AI PC, based on the QiLai SoC, integrates a multi-core CPU, vector processor, GPU, and various peripherals for optimal performance, and AI workload handling. This product is designed to cater to developers and enterprises looking for advanced, open-standard RISC-V solutions.

GPU chip packages of the "Navi 4x" generation of GPUs could be generationally smaller than their predecessors, according to leaked package dimensions of the "Navi 44" chip put out by Olrak29_. With its next-generation Radeon RX gaming GPUs based on the RDNA 4 graphics architecture, AMD has decided to focus on gaining market-share in the performance and mainstream segments, ceding the enthusiast segment to NVIDIA. As part of its effort, the company is making RDNA 4 efficient at every level—architecture, process, and package.

At the architecture level, RDNA 4 is expected to improve performance, particularly the performance cost of ray tracing, through a more specialized ray tracing hardware stack. At the process level, AMD is expected to switch to a more efficient foundry node, with some reports suggesting the TSMC 4 nm, such as the N4P or N4X. For a mid-range GPU like the "Navi 44," which succeeds the "Navi 23" and "Navi 33," these mean a rather big leap from the 7 nm or 6 nm DUV nodes. The leak suggests a smaller package, measuring 29 mm x 29 mm. In comparison, the "Navi 23" package measures 35 mm x 35 mm. The smaller package could make these GPUs friendlier with gaming notebooks, where mainboard PCB real-estate is at a premium.

addlink Technology, a leader in digital storage innovation, proudly announces the launch of its advanced M.2 Gen 5 SSD series, the G55 and G55H. Designed for AI professionals, gamers, and hardware enthusiasts, these SSDs promise to transform your storage experience. Achieve blazing speeds up to 10,300 MB/s with the G55 and G55H Gen 5 x4 SSDs, powered by a low-power TSMC 7 nm process controller. Offering performance 50% faster than Gen 4 and up to 20 times faster than SATA SSDs, these drives are fully optimized for the latest Intel and AMD Gen 5 platforms.

The G55H is equipped with a premium heatsink to ensure consistent peak performance without throttling. Its slim 8.75 mm profile guarantees compatibility with most PCs and the PlayStation 5, providing unparalleled performance without compromise. The G55 features an ultraslim 2.3 mm design with high-density flash memory on one side, using 50% less power than other Gen 5 x4 SSDs. This makes it perfect for professionals who require high performance on the go without overheating or sacrificing battery life.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side, especially as we're running out of sides in the advanced semiconductor manufacturing sector. A recent report by Business Korea highlights Samsung Securities' July publication titled "Geopolitical Paradigm Shift and Industry," which paints a less-than-optimistic picture of Samsung's current state of affairs. The report even evaluates a possible spinoff of Samsung Foundry. The Korean tech giant has faced various business setbacks related to its state-of-the-art 3 nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) FET node. Reports indicate that this node only manages to yield 10-20% of working silicon, making potential customers reluctant to secure partnerships with Samsung. Samsung Securities projects that Samsung Foundry, along with the LSI division, will suffer a 500 billion won (about $385 million) loss this year.

Poor yields and difficulty securing customers have left Samsung facing tough choices, including the possible sale of its massive Foundry unit, which manufactures logic for external customers. It's noteworthy that Samsung is one of only three companies left in the advanced semiconductor manufacturing field, alongside TSMC and Intel. Many companies struggled to deliver results when transitioning to sub-7 nm nodes. Global Foundries dropped out of the race to focus on mature nodes, while Intel faced delays. TSMC has been the only company so far to consistently set and execute its goals, positioning itself as the industry leader. With low yields on the 3 nm GAA FET node, Samsung currently holds 11.5% of the global foundry market share in Q2, while TSMC dominates with 62.3%.

Huawei has reportedly started shipping its Ascend 910C accelerator—the company's domestic alternative to NVIDIA's H100 accelerator for AI training and inference. As the report from China South Morning Post notes, Huawei is shipping samples of its accelerator to large NVIDIA customers. This includes companies like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent, which have ordered massive amounts of NVIDIA accelerators. However, Huawei is on track to deliver 70,000 chips, potentially worth $2 billion. With NVIDIA working on a B20 accelerator SKU that complies with US government export regulations, the Huawei Ascend 910C accelerator could potentially outperform NVIDIA's B20 processor, per some analyst expectations.

If the Ascend 910C receives positive results from Chinese tech giants, it could be the start of Huawei's expansion into data center accelerators, once hindered by the company's ability to manufacture advanced chips. Now, with foundries like SMIC printing 7 nm designs and possibly 5 nm coming soon, Huawei will leverage this technology to satisfy the domestic demand for more AI processing power. Competing on a global scale, though, remains a challenge. Companies like NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel have access to advanced nodes, which gives their AI accelerators more efficiency and performance.

A CPU-Z screenshot of an alleged Intel Core Ultra 9 285K "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processor engineering sample is doing rounds on social media, thanks to wxnod. CPU-Z identifies the chip with an Intel Core Ultra case badge with the deep shade of blue associated with the Core Ultra 9 brand extension, which hints at this being the top Core Ultra 9 285K processor model, we know it's the "K" or "KF" SKU looking at its processor base power reading of 125 W. The chip is built in the upcoming Intel Socket LGA1851. CPU-Z displays the process node as 7 nm, which corresponds with the Intel 4 foundry node.

Intel is using the same Intel 4 foundry node for "Arrow Lake-S" as the compute tile of its "Meteor Lake" processor. Intel 4 offers power efficiency and performance comparable to 4 nm nodes from TSMC, although it is physically a 7 nm node. Likewise, the Intel 3 node is physically 5 nm. If you recall, the main logic tile of "Lunar Lake" is being built on the TSMC N3P (3 nm) node. This means that Intel is really gunning for performance/Watt with "Lunar Lake," to get as close to the Apple M3 Pro as possible.

OPENEDGES Technology, Inc the leading provider of memory subsystem IP, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, The Six Semiconductor Inc (TSS), has successfully brought-up and validated its HBM3 testchip in 7 nm process technology. The IP validation testchip and the HBM3 PHY were brought up within the first month to 6.4 Gbps, and further tuning has resulted in successful operation of the HBM3 memory subsystem overclocked to 7.2 Gbps.

To date, there are only a handful of IP vendors that have taped out and demonstrated HBM3 memory subsystems, as test shuttle and HBM3 DRAM die stack sample availability are both highly limited. OPENEDGES is thrilled to be amongst one of the few companies to have demonstrated an HBM3 memory subsystem in silicon.

According to sources familiar with the matter and reported by Bloomberg, the Biden administration is considering imposing further export controls to limit China's ability to acquire advanced semiconductor technologies crucial for developing AI systems. Gate-all-around (GAA) transistor technology and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips are at the center of the proposed restrictions. These cutting-edge components play a pivotal role in creating powerful AI accelerators. GAA transistors, a key feature in next-generation chips, promise substantial improvements in power efficiency and processing speeds. Meanwhile, HBM chips enable high-speed data transfer between a processor and memory. While existing sanctions prevent American firms from supplying Chinese companies with equipment for manufacturing leading-edge chips, concerns persist that China could still attain advanced capabilities through other means.

For instance, China's leading chipmaker, SMIC, could potentially integrate GAA transistors into its existing 7 nm process node, markedly enhancing performance. Access to HBM would further augment China's ability to develop AI accelerators on par with cutting-edge offerings from US firms. The reflections within the Biden administration show a strategic effort to preserve America's technological edge by denying China access to key semiconductor innovations. However, implementing such stringent export controls is a delicate balancing act, as it risks heightening tensions and prompting Chinese retaliation. No final decision has been made, and officials continue weighing the proposed restrictions' pros and cons. Nonetheless, the discussions highlight the pivotal role that semiconductor technology plays in the great power rivalry between the US and China, especially in the AI era.

MSI also brought plenty of SSD products to the Computex 2024 show, including the new SPATIUM M560 PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2 SSD based on the Phison E31T controller and Kioxia's 218-layer BiCS 3D TLC NAND, the new SPATIUM non-metal Vapor Chamber SSD Thermal Solution, and a couple of SSD accessories, including the DATAMAG Magnetic Portable SSD and the DATAVAULT SSD Enclosure.

As said, the new SPATIUM M560 PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2 SSD will use the Phison 7 nm E31T controller paired up with Kioxia 8th generation 218-layer BiCS 3D TLC NAND and offer transfer rates of up to 10,000 MB/s. The controller, according to MSI, should bring up to a 15 percent reduction in power consumption as well as "maximize bandwidths and link efficiency". It will be available in 1 TB, and 2 TB capacities, and MSI will probably have a version that will include the new SPATIUM non-metal Vapor Chamber SSD Thermal Solution which has been also showcased at the Computex 2024 show. MSI says that this is yet another world's first, which uses "a two-phase flow transition of gas and liquid with minimal signal interference, ensuring rapid and silent heat exchange." According to MSI, the new SPATIUM non-metal Vapor Chamber SSD Thermal Solution should provide up to 11 degrees lower temperature compared to a standard aluminium heatsink.

According to Bloomberg's latest investigation, Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) have submitted patents on the self-aligned quadruple patterning (SAQP) pattern etching technique to enable SMIC to achieve 5 nm semiconductor production. The two Chinese giants have been working with the Deep Ultra Violet (DUV) machinery to develop a pattern etching technique allowing SMIC to produce a node compliant with the US exporting rules while maintaining the density improvements from the previously announced 7 nm node. In the 7 nm process, SMIC most likely used self-aligned dual patterning (SADP) with DUV tools, but for the increased density of the 5 nm node, a doubling to SAQP is required. In semiconductor manufacturing, lithography tools take multiple turns to etch the design of the silicon wafer.

Especially with smaller nodes getting ever-increasing density requirements, it is becoming challenging to etch sub-10 nm designs using DUV tools. That is where Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) tools from ASML come into play. With EUV, the wavelengths of the lithography printers are 14 times smaller than DUV, at only 13.5 nm, compared to 193 nm of ArF immersion DUV systems. This means that without EUV, SMIC has to look into alternatives like SAQP to increase the density of its nodes and, as a result, include more complications and possibly lower yields. As an example, Intel tried to use SAQP in its first 10 nm nodes to reduce reliance on EUV, which resulted in a series of delays and complications, eventually pushing Intel into EUV. While Huawei and SMIC may develop a more efficient solution for SAQP, the use of EUV is imminent as the regular DUV can not keep up with the increasing density of semiconductor nodes. Given that ASML can't ship its EUV machinery to China, Huawei is supposedly developing its own EUV machines, but will likely take a few more years to show.

The mid-range AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT is not supposed to have 16 GB of video memory, but the same hardware modders from Brazil behind the recent GeForce RTX 2080 16 GB mod, had other ideas for the card. They have not only increased the memory size to 16 GB through memory chip replacement, but also succeeded in widening its memory bus to 256-bit. The RX 5600 XT was launched in 2018 with 6 GB of 14 Gbps GDDR6 memory over a 192-bit memory interface. The card is cut down from the 7 nm "Navi 10" silicon powering the RX 5700 series, by enabling 36 out of 40 compute units (the same count as the RX 5700), but with a truncated 192-bit memory bus wired to 6 GB of memory (and so 25% lower memory bandwidth).

Paulo Gomes and Ronaldo Buassali pulled off the daring Radeon RX 5600 XT memory mod, which involves not just increasing the memory size from 6 GB to 16 GB, but also widening the memory bus from 192-bit to 256-bit. Since the RX 5600 XT is based on the same "Navi 10" GPU as the RX 5700, custom-design graphics cards tend to reuse PCB designs from the RX 5700 series, and have two vacant memory pads that are sometimes exposed and even balled. The mod involves three key stages—to replace the six 8 Gbit GDDR6 memory chips with eight 16 Gbit ones; to add the required electrical SMDs and VRM components for the two additional memory chips; and lastly, to give the card a modified BIOS that can let it play with the new memory configuration. The "Navi 10" silicon also powers certain Radeon Pro graphics cards with 16 GB of memory using 16 Gbit memory chips, so that could be the starting point for the BIOS mod.

As the IT sector continues to seek answers for scaling data processing performance while simultaneously improving efficiency - in terms of performance and density per watt, per system, per rack, and per dollar of CapEx and OpEx - ScaleFlux is answering the call with innovative design choices in its SSD controllers. The SFX 5016 promises to set new standards both for performance and for power efficiency.

In addition to carrying forward the transparent compression feature that ScaleFlux first released in 2020 in upgraded in 2022 with the SFX 3016 computational storage drive controller, the new SFX 5016 SOC processor includes a number of design advances.

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE (Golden Rabbit Edition) is a runaway success in China, where the card is found selling in volumes comparable to GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, and the likes. This is thanks to its aggressive pricing, and decent levels of performance given the maturity of drivers for the older RDNA2 graphics architecture. The RX 6750 GRE comes in two variants—a 10 GB variant with a 160-bit memory bus and 2,304 stream processors; and a 12 GB variant with the full 2,560 stream processors, similar to the globally available RX 6750 XT. For AMD, the success of the RX 6750 GRE couldn't have come at a better time, as it looks to mop up its 7 nm wafer allocation with TSMC with the "Navi 22" silicon, which went underutilized as GPU demand fell with the crypto-mining crash of 2022 and the subsequent move to the 5 nm next-generation; and so it needs these cards to sell at prices at least in line with the MSRP, of ¥2,219 (RMB) for the 10 GB variant, and ¥2,379 for the 12 GB model. Apparently some retailers are selling these cards below the MSRP, and AMD isn't liking this.

The way retail works in general, is that when an item is selling below MSRP, it encourages retailers to negotiate lower prices up the supply chain, which would inevitably cut income for AMD, and set off a feedback loop. To check exactly this, AMD rolled out a slew of measures. It will be monitoring the retail channel for retailers selling the card below MSRP, and impose a set of tiered penalties. For the first offense, a retailer will be penalized ¥500 per card sold below MSRP. For the second instance, this penalty goes up to ¥1,000 per card, and a stoppage of supply to the retailer. The RX 6750 GRE is so popular in China that it isn't just AMD's traditional AIB partners selling the SKU, but also several lesser known Chinese brands, which have purchased volumes of the RX 6750 GRE ASIC, and are belting out cards as the market demands. In related news, AMD is yet to launch the new Radeon RX 7600 XT in the Chinese market, because it doesn't want to disturb the flow of the RX 6750 GRE.

China's homegrown Loongson 3A6000 CPU shows promise but still needs to catch up AMD and Intel's latest offerings in real-world performance. According to benchmarks by Chinese tech reviewer Geekerwan, the 3A6000 has instructions per clock (IPC) on par with AMD's Zen 4 architecture and Intel's Raptor Lake. Using the SPEC CPU 2017 processor benchmark, Geekerwan has clocked all the CPUs at 2.5 GHs to compare the raw benchmark results to Zen 4 and Intel's Raptor Lake (Raptor Cove) processors. As a result, the Loongson 3A6000 seemingly matches the latest designs by AMD and Intel in integer results, with integer IPC measured at 4.8, while Zen 4 and Raptor Cove have 5.0 and 4.9, respectively. The floating point performance is still lagging behind a lot, though. This demonstrates that Loongson's CPU design can catching up to global leaders, but still needs further development, especially for floating point arithmetic.

However, the 3A6000 is held back by low clock speeds and limited core counts. With a maximum boost speed of just 2.5 GHz across four CPU cores, the 3A6000 cannot compete with flagship chips like AMD's 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X running at 5.7 GHz. While the 3A6000's IPC is impressive, its raw computing power is a fraction of that of leading x86 CPUs. Loongson must improve manufacturing process technology to increase clock speeds, core counts, and cache size. The 3A6000's strengths highlight Loongson's ambitions: an in-house LoongArch ISA design fabricated on 12 nm achieves competitive IPC to state-of-the-art x86 chips built on more advanced TSMC 5 nm and Intel 7 nm nodes. This shows the potential behind Loongson's engineering. Reports suggest that next-generation Loongson 3A7000 CPUs will use SMIC 7 nm, allowing higher clocks and more cores to better harness the architecture's potential. So, we expect the next generation to set a bar for China's homegrown CPU performance.

The current crop of PCIe Gen 5 based M.2 NVMe SSDs run scorching hot to deliver sequential transfer speeds of 10 GB/s, requiring some massive cooling solutions with tiny fans. All this might change, as Phison, a leading SSD controller manufacturer, unveiled three new controllers at the 2024 International CES. One of these that stands out, is the PS5031-E31T, which is built on the 7 nm node, and could power the first Gen 5 SSDs delivering 10 GB/s without elaborate cooling solutions. This is a big upgrade from the 12 nm node used by their first Gen 5 controllers. The PS5031-E31T is a DRAMless controller meant for mainstream Gen 5 SSDs. This controller has a 4-channel flash interface (16 CE), a PCI-Express 5.0 x4 host interface, supports capacities of up to 8 TB, and is claimed by Phison to offer sequential transfer rates of up to 10.8 GB/s, and up to 1500K IOPS random access; exceeding the fastest Gen 4 SSDs.

Phison also updated its high-end controller lineup with the new PS5026-E26 Max14um. This is a variant of the E26 that's designed for the upcoming Micron B58R NAND flash chip that offers 2400 MT/s per channel transfers. Over the 8-channel interface of the E26, this finally unlocks sequential transfer speeds exceeding 14 GB/s reads, and 12.7 GB/s sequential writes. This is merely a revision of the existing E26 with updated power-optimized firmware, the underlying silicon is identical. The E26 Max14um is the first controller to surpass 1000 MB/s in all three PCMark 10 storage tests. We have a sample of an SSD powered by the E26 Max14um in our labs, and will post our review soon.

According to the report from a journal called Fundamental Research, researchers from the Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a 256-core multi-chiplet processor called Zhejiang Big Chip, with plans to scale up to 1,600 cores by utilizing an entire wafer. As transistor density gains slow, alternatives like multi-chiplet architectures become crucial for continued performance growth. The Zhejiang chip combines 16 chiplets, each holding 16 RISC-V cores, interconnected via network-on-chip. This design can theoretically expand to 100 chiplets and 1,600 cores on an advanced 2.5D packaging interposer. While multi-chiplet is common today, using the whole wafer for one system would match Cerebras' breakthrough approach. Built on 22 nm process technology, the researchers cite exascale supercomputing as an ideal application for massively parallel multi-chiplet architectures.

Careful software optimization is required to balance workloads across the system hierarchy. Integrating near-memory processing and 3D stacking could further optimize efficiency. The paper explores lithography and packaging limits, proposing hierarchical chiplet systems as a flexible path to future computing scale. While yield and cooling challenges need further work, the 256-core foundation demonstrates the potential of modular designs as an alternative to monolithic integration. China's focus mirrors multiple initiatives from American giants like AMD and Intel for data center CPUs. But national semiconductor ambitions add urgency to prove domestically designed solutions can rival foreign innovation. Although performance details are unclear, the rapid progress shows promise in mastering modular chip integration. Combined with improving domestic nodes like the 7 nm one from SMIC, China could easily create a viable Exascale system in-house.

The AMD Socket AM4 platform is still alive and kicking, with AMD releasing new processor models in its 7th year. Many of these chips started selling online in Europe. The Ryzen 7 5700X3D is a slightly lower clocked version of the 5800X3D, which for many of those still on AM4 is the final upgrade to their platform. The 5800X3D may be based on the older "Zen 3" microarchitecture, but thanks to its 3D Vertical Cache technology, offers gaming performance comparable to the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake," making even 7-year old AM4 gaming desktops contemporary. To cash in on this exact market, AMD released a more cost-effective option, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D.

The 5700X3D is an 8-core/16-thread Socket AM4 processor that features 96 MB of L3 cache thanks to the 3D V-cache technology, just like the 5800X3D, but comes with a maximum boost frequency of 4.10 GHz, compared to the 4.50 GHz of the 5800X3D. Store listings do not mention its TDP or base frequency. The 5700X3D is being listed at 271€ including taxes, or about 15-20% cheaper than the 5800X3D. A word of caution when choosing the 5700X3D would be its close to non-existent overclocking headroom, so this probably isn't a chip that you can manually overclock to performance levels of a 5800X3D while saving some 40€ on the side.

Today, AMD announced it will showcase automotive innovation at CES 2024 and expand its portfolio with the introduction of two new devices, the Versal AI Edge XA adaptive SoC and Ryzen Embedded V2000A Series processor. The devices underscore AMD automotive technology leadership and are designed to serve key automotive focus segments including infotainment, advanced driver safety and autonomous driving. Working alongside a growing automotive partner ecosystem, AMD will demonstrate at CES 2024 the broad range of capabilities and applications for these new devices in automotive solutions available today and in the future.

Versal AI Edge XA adaptive SoCs add an advanced AI Engine, enabling the devices to be further optimized for numerous next-generation advanced automotive systems and applications including: forward cameras, in-cabin monitoring, LiDAR, 4D radar, surround-view, automated parking and autonomous driving. Versal AI Edge XA adaptive SoCs are also the first AMD 7 nm device to be auto-qualified, bringing hardened IP and added security to automotive applications where safety is paramount.

AMD is preparing to update its desktop processor lineup not just with new Ryzen 8000G series APUs for the Socket AM5 platform, but also a handful new SKUs for AM4. Possible pricing of many of these chips is detailed in our recent report. Among the chips listed is a mysterious new Ryzen 7 5700 Socket AM4 processor. Although we don't have its pricing, AMD sneakily put up its product information on its website. On the product page, the company says that the product came out in April 2022, but it never did, at least not in the retail channel.

The Ryzen 7 5700 is an 8-core/16-thread processor that lacks integrated graphics, and yet is based on the 7 nm "Cezanne" monolithic silicon, with similar clock speeds to the Ryzen 7 5700G APU. Think of this as the 5700G with its iGPU disabled. The chip comes with a CPU base frequency of 3.70 GHz compared to the 3.80 GHz of the 5700G, although the two have an identical maximum boost frequency of 4.60 GHz. Each of the eight "Zen 3" CPU cores has 512 KB of dedicated L2 cache, and share a 16 MB L3 cache. The processor's TDP is set to 65 W, and the retail package includes a Wraith Stealth cooling solution. One pitfall of choosing the 5700 over something like the 5700X would be its lack of a PCIe Gen 4 interface (it's limited to the older Gen 3), which would mean a slower NVMe storage sub-system.

TrendForce's research indicates a dynamic third quarter for the global foundry industry, marked by an uptick in urgent orders for smartphone and notebook components. This surge was fueled by healthy inventory levels and the release of new iPhone and Android devices in 2H23. Despite persisting inflation risks and market uncertainties, these orders were predominantly executed as rush orders. Additionally, TSMC and Samsung's high-cost 3 nm manufacturing process had a positive impact on revenues, driving the 3Q23 value of the top ten global foundries to approximately US$28.29 billion—a 7.9% QoQ increase.

Looking ahead to 4Q23, the anticipation of year-end festive demand is expected to sustain the inflow of urgent orders for smartphones and laptops, particularly for smartphone components. Although the end-user market is yet to fully recover, pre-sales season stockpiling for Chinese Android smartphones appears to be slightly better than expected, with demand for mid-to-low range 5G and 4G phone APs and continued interest in new iPhone models. This scenario suggests a continued upward trend for the top ten global foundries in Q4, potentially exceeding the growth rate seen in Q3.

The Chinese semiconductor industry is advancing, and interestingly, it is growing rapidly under sanctions, even with the blacklisting of companies by the US government. China's semiconductor industry is mainly represented by companies like Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) and Huawei Technologies, who are leading the investment and progress in both chip manufacturing and chip design. According to the latest interview with Bloomberg, former TSMC Vice President Burn J. Lin said that the US government and its sanctions can not stop the advancement of Chinese semiconductor companies. Currently, Lin notes that SMIC and Huawei can use older machinery to produce more advanced chips.

Even so, SMIC could progress to 5 nm technology using existing equipment, particularly with scanners and other machinery from ASML. Development under sanctions would also force China to experiment with new materials and other chip packaging techniques that yield higher performance targets. SMIC has already developed a 7 nm semiconductor manufacturing node, which Huawei used for its latest Mate 60 Pro smartphone, based on Huawei's custom HiSilicon Kirin 9000S chip. Similarly, the transition is expected to happen to the 5 nm node as well, and it is only a matter of time before we see other nodes appear. "It is just not possible for the US to completely prevent China from improving its chip technology," noted Burn J. Lin.

TrendForce reports an interesting shift in the electronics landscape: dwindling inventories for TV components, along with a surging mobile repair market that's been driving TDDI demand, have sparked a smattering of urgent orders in the Q2 supply chain. These last-minute orders have served as pivotal lifelines, propping up Q2 capacity utilization and revenue for semiconductor foundries. However, the adrenaline rush from these stop-gap orders may be a short-lived phenomenon and is unlikely to be carried over into the third quarter.

On the other hand, demand for staple consumer products like smartphones, PCs, and notebooks remains sluggish, perpetuating a slump in the use of expensive, cutting-edge manufacturing processes. At the same time, traditionally stable sectors—automotive, industrial control, and servers—are undergoing inventory correction. The confluence of these trends has resulted in a sustained contraction for the world's top ten semiconductor foundries. Their global revenue declined by approximately 1.1% for the quarter, amounting to a staggering US$26.2 billion.

Semiconductor industry research firm TechInsights said it has found that Samsung's 3 nm GAA (gate-all-around) process has been incorporated into the crypto miner ASIC (Whatsminer M56S++) from a Chinese manufacturer, MicroBT. In a Disruptive Technology Event Brief exclusively provided to DIGITIMES Asia, TechInsights points out that the significance of this development lies in the commercial utilization of GAA technology, which facilitates the scaling of transistors to 2 nm and beyond. "This development is crucial because it has the potential to enhance performance, improve energy efficiency, keep up with Moore's Law, and enable advanced applications," said TechInsights, identifying the MicroBT ASIC chip the first commercialized product using GAA technology in the industry.

But this would also reveal that Samsung is the foundry for MicroBT, using the 3 nm GAA process. DIGITIMES Research semiconductor analyst Eric Chen pointed out that Samsung indeed has started producing chips using the 3 nm GAA process, but the capacity is still small. "Getting revenues from shipment can be defined as 'commercialization', but ASIC is a relatively simple kind of chip to produce, in terms of architecture."

Competition between Samsung and TSMC in the 4 nm and 3 nm foundry process markets is about to heat up, with the Korean foundry claiming yields competitive to those of TSMC, according to a report in the Kukmin Ilbo, a Korean daily newspaper. 4 nm is the final silicon fabrication process to use the FinFET technology that powered nodes ranging between 16 nm to 4 nm. Samsung Foundry is claiming 4 nm wafer yields of 75%, against the 80% yields figure put out by TSMC. 4 nm powers several current-generation mobile SoCs, PC processors, and more importantly, the GPUs driving the AI gold-rush.

Things get very interesting with 3 nm, the node that debuts GAA-FET (gates all around FET) technology. Here, Samsung claims to offer higher yields than TSMC, with its 3 nm GAA node clocking 60% yields, against 55% put out by TSMC. Samsung was recently bitten by a scandal where its engineers allegedly falsified yields figures to customers to score orders, which had a cascading effect on the volumes and competitiveness of their customers. We're inclined to think that Samsung has taken lessons and is more careful with the yields figures being reported in the press. Meanwhile, Intel Foundry Services competes with the Intel 3 node, which is physically 7 nm FinFET, but with electrical characteristics comparable to those of 3 nm.

Gigabyte has updated the CPU support list for its X570 AORUS XTREME motherboard, and the usual internet hardware sleuths spotted the addition of an intriguing unreleased AMD CPU—compatible with said board when updated to BIOS version F35. Team Red could be readying the quad-core/eight-thread "Cezanne" Ryzen 3 5100 processor for a forthcoming market launch—the AM4 platform and Zen 3 continue to live on—co-existing with the 7000-series lineup—the "Vermeer-X" Ryzen 5 5600X3D arrives later this week as a Micro Center retail exclusive, and another Cezanne-based unit (an eight-core Ryzen 7 5700) has been added to motherboard support lists.

The Ryzen 3 5100 and Ryzen 7 5700 CPUs were included in SKU manifests from last spring, but did not end up launching in 2022. Both appear to be monolithic die APUs with their iGPUs disabled—the Cezanne CPU microarchitecture is based on TSMC's 7 nm process node. Other news sources posit that these processors have occasionally cropped up as OEM parts on e-commerce platforms, but AMD has (so far) kept very quiet about possible retail releases.