Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increased 5.9% quarter-over-quarter to 3,214 million square inches (MSI) in the third quarter of 2024 and registered 6.8% growth from the 3,010 million square inches recorded during the same quarter last year, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

"The third quarter wafer shipment results continued the upward trend which started in the second quarter of this year," said Lee Chungwei (李崇偉), Chairman of SEMI SMG and Vice President and Chief Auditor at GlobalWafers. "Inventory levels have declined throughout the supply chain but generally remain high. Demand for advanced wafers used for AI continues to be strong. However, the silicon wafer demand for automotive and industrial uses continues to be muted, while the demand for silicon used for handset and other consumer products has seen some areas of improvement. As a result, 2025 is likely to continue upward trends, but total shipments are not yet expected to return to the peak levels of 2022."

During the European Technology Symposium 2024, TSMC has announced its readiness to manufacture next-generation HBM4 base dies using both 12 nm and 5 nm nodes. This significant development is expected to substantially improve the performance, power consumption, and logic density of HBM4 memory, catering to the demands of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The shift from a traditional 1024-bit interface to an ultra-wide 2048-bit interface is a key aspect of the new HBM4 standard. This change will enable the integration of more logic and higher performance while reducing power consumption. TSMC's N12FFC+ and N5 processes will be used to produce these base dies, with the N12FFC+ process offering a cost-effective solution for achieving HBM4 performance and the N5 process providing even more logic and lower power consumption at HBM4 speeds.

The company is collaborating with major HBM memory partners, including Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix, to integrate advanced nodes for HBM4 full-stack integration. TSMC's base die, fabricated using the N12FFC+ process, will be used to install HBM4 memory stacks on a silicon interposer alongside system-on-chips (SoCs). This setup will enable the creation of 12-Hi (48 GB) and 16-Hi (64 GB) stacks with per-stack bandwidth exceeding 2 TB/s. TSMC's collaboration with EDA partners like Cadence, Synopsys, and Ansys ensures the integrity of HBM4 channel signals, thermal accuracy, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) in the new HBM4 base dies. TSMC is also optimizing CoWoS-L and CoWoS-R for HBM4 integration, meaning that massive high-performance chips are already utilizing this technology and getting ready for volume manufacturing.

Altair, a global leader in computational intelligence, announced the upcoming release of Altair SimSolid for electronics, bringing game-changing fast, easy, and precise multi-physics scenario exploration for electronics, from chips, PCBs, and ICs to full system design. "As the electronics industry pushes the boundaries of complexity and miniaturization, engineers have struggled with simulations that often compromise on detail for expediency. Altair SimSolid will empower engineers to capture the intricate complexities of PCBs and ICs without simplification," said James R. Scapa, founder and chief executive officer, Altair. "Traditional simulation methods often require approximations when analyzing PCB structures due to their complexity. Altair SimSolid eliminates these approximations to run more accurate simulations for complex problems with vast dimensional disparities."

Altair SimSolid has revolutionized conventional analysis in its ability to accurately predict complex structural problems with blazing-fast speed while eliminating the complexity of laborious hours of modeling. It eliminates geometry simplification and meshing, the two most time-consuming and expertise-intensive tasks done in traditional finite element analysis. As a result, it delivers results in seconds to minutes—up to 25x faster than traditional finite element solvers—and effortlessly handles complex assemblies. Having experienced fast adoption in the aerospace and automotive industries, two sectors that typically experience challenges associated with massive structures, Altair SimSolid is poised to play a significant role in the electronics market. The initial release, expected in Q2 2024, will support structural and thermal analysis for PCBs and ICs with full electromagnetics analysis coming in a future release.

During a recent demonstration, Intel showcased its cutting-edge packaging technologies, EMIB (embedded multi-die interconnect bridge) and Foveros, unveiling the highly-anticipated Meteor Lake processor with integrated LPDDR5X memory. This move appears to align with Apple's successful integration of LPDDR memory into its M1 and M2 chip packages. At the heart of Intel's presentation was the quad-tile Meteor Lake CPU, leveraging Foveros packaging for its chiplets and boasting 16 GB of Samsung's LPDDR5X-7500 memory. Although the specific CPU configuration remains undisclosed, the 16 GB of integrated memory delivers a remarkable peak bandwidth of 120 GB/s, outperforming traditional memory subsystems using DDR5-5200 or LPDDR5-6400.

Nevertheless, this approach comes with trade-offs, such as the potential for system-wide failure if a memory chip malfunctions, limited upgradeability in soldered-down configurations, and the need for more advanced cooling solutions to manage CPU and memory heat. While Apple pioneered on-package LPDDR memory integration in client CPUs, Intel has a history of using package-on-package DRAM with its Atom-branded CPUs for tablets and ultrathin laptops. While this approach simplifies manufacturing, enabling slimmer notebook designs, it curtails configuration flexibility. We are yet to see if big laptop makers such as Dell, HP, and Asus, take on this design in the coming months.

Phanteks launched a range of PC enthusiast products to help PC builders create incredible systems. The all-new Glacier R220C DDC Combo, white Vertical GPU bracket, and white Flat Line PCIe Gen 4 Riser Cables are designed for both gamers and PC enthusiasts who want to improve the performance of their system and stand out from the crowd.

The new Glacier R220C DDC Combo is equipped with a pre-installed high-performance DDC 4.2 pump with power management control via PWM through motherboard bios or a fan controller. The compact design is quiet and powerful and comes with a SATA power connector for easy installation to run any complex liquid-cooled system.

Phanteks debuts a host of new products for the upcoming year at CES 2022 - The brand new Evolv Shift XT Mini-ITX Chassis and Revolt SFX Power Supplies, Matte White Editions for the Evolv X & Eclipse P600S Chassis, white SK PWM D-RGB Fans, white AMP Power Supply and a complete range of Gen4 PCIe Riser Cables and Gen4 Vertical GPU Bracket.

Brand new and unique Evolv Shift XT Mini-ITX Chassis and super compact Revolt SFX Power Supplies
Evolv Shift XT - Compact, Powerful, Futureproof
The Evolv Shift XT brings a unique small form factor that can extend in size to tailor to your cooling performance needs. The Evolv Shift XT has no compromise on performance with support for powerful hardware, whether in Compact, Aircooled, or Liquid Cooled Mode.

The German Federal Network Agency, together with Agentschap Telecom Netherlands, BAKOM Switzerland and Elsäkerhetsverket Sweden have tested consumer HDMI and coaxial antenna cables and come to the conclusion that many of them don't meet regulations when it comes to Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC). The four groups tested 30 coaxial antenna cables and 30 HDMI cables, of which only 11 percent of the antenna cables met the manufacturers declared attenuation and and only 10 percent of the HDMI cables met an acceptable EMC quality of at least 50 dB coupling attenuation.

Usually EMI, or electromagnetic interference is what's being discussed, but EMC is about how a device works and interacts in an environment so it doesn't cause EMI. In terms of cables, the normal cause for EMI tends to be because the cable ends up working like an antenna and starts to simplify the signal being transmitted inside the cable. This can cause all sorts of problems, with the most obvious example being poorly shielded USB 3.0 cables, which can interfere with 2.4 GHz radios, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, wireless mice and headphones etc.

Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment surged 19% from $59.8 billion in 2019 to a new all-time high of $71.2 billion in 2020, SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics product design and manufacturing supply chain, reported today. The data is now available in the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) Report.

For the first time, China claimed the largest market for new semiconductor equipment with sales growth of 39% to $18.72 billion. Sales in Taiwan, the second-largest equipment market, remained flat in 2020 with sales of $17.15 billion after showing strong growth in 2019. Korea registered 61% growth to $16.08 billion to maintain the third position. Annual spending also increased 21% in Japan and 16% in Europe as both regions are recovering from the contraction in 2019. Receipts in North America decreased 20% in 2020 following three years of consecutive growth.

Soaring pandemic-inspired demand for chips that power everything from communications and IT infrastructures to personal computing, gaming and healthcare electronics will drive an 8% increase in global fab equipment spending in 2020 and a 13% increase in 2021, SEMI announced today in its World Fab Forecast report. Rising demand for semiconductors for datacenter infrastructures and server storage along with the buildup of safety stock as U.S.-China trade tensions intensify are also contributing to this year's growth.

The bullish trend for overall fab equipment investments comes as the semiconductor industry recovers from a 9% decline in fab spending in 2019 and navigates a roller-coaster 2020 with actual and projected spending drops in the first and third quarters mixed with second- and fourth-quarter increases. See figure below:

Introducing the ToughArmor MB720M2K-B, the world's first quad drive ruggedized M.2 NVMe SSD removable enclosure. M.2 NVMe SSDs no longer requires to be installed on to a motherboard or a riser card with a tiny screw and can now be installed and accessed from the front of your computer without any tools. The ToughArmor MB720M2K-B comes with patent-pending tool-less M.2 drive installation design which will alleviate the pain that many user experiences when installing M.2 drives and offer easy drive maintenance and system upgrading.

ASUS has released a ROG-branded riser cable for your graphics card, which will allow you to display it in different configurations on your case. Whether you make a custom solution or have a case that supports vertical graphics cards already, the ROG Strix Riser Cable is the perfect solution. There is no RGB lighting, but ASUS has equipped the ROG Strix Raiser Cable with EMI shielding and special PCB layout to prevent any signal losses from the extended travel distance between your graphics card and your boards' PCIe slot.

The ROG Strix Riser Cable also includes ASUS' patented Safe Slot design, which they employ in their motherboards for securely fastening your graphics cards to your system. The ROG Riser Cable supports PCIe 3.0 x16 signaling, and is available for a relatively hefty €49.99.

MSI, the leading gaming motherboard brand, is proud to announce its newest X299 flagship motherboard, the X299 XPOWER GAMING AC. Designed for PC enthusiasts and overclockers who love sheer performance, the new XPOWER features an incredible 14 phase (12+1+1) DigitALL premium power design with Loadline Calibration to harness even the most powerful Intel Core X-Series processors. With the addition of MSI's Turbo Socket and External Clock Gen, powered by top quality components from Military Class 6, such as Titanium Choke II for higher efficiency and power delivery, even the most demanding overclockers are being challenged to push the new XPOWER to its limits.

MSI, world leading in gaming motherboard innovation, is thrilled to announce four new ARCTIC white GAMING motherboards, the Z270/H270 TOMAHAWK & H270M/B250M MORTAR ARCTIC, are added to the Arsenal GAMING Series. The second generation of ARCTIC models not only inherited the spirit of the unique ARCTIC design, it also adopted a plethora of features from other 200 series GAMING motherboards for an improved gaming experience. Enjoy never seen before low latency online gaming with MSI GAMING LAN, while benefiting from enhanced, studio grade sound with Audio Boost. Featuring heavy plated heat sinks, fully styled to perfectly match the ARCTIC look and feel, the new ARCTIC motherboards are ready to conquer the battlefield.

Whether for casual or professional use, users are now in demand an all-in-one, versatile monitor that not only suggests chic and stylish, but also offers with a broad range of functions i.e. low EMI emission, Flicker-free, and Blue Light Filter health care benefits. ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solution products, proudly presents two new stylish 25" Full HD multimedia monitors, the gold- and black-coloured VX2573-sg and the silver- and white-coloured VX2573-shw.
These two products have a borderless, glossy-finish, and gold/silver colour design, which is ideal for homes with a contemporary décor. The VX2573 series is ViewSonic's latest line of 25-inch displays equipped with SuperClear IPS technology. It deliver s a 178/178 degree wide viewing angle with stunning image quality and powerful visual performance.

Compared with 24-inch, the 25-inch monitor is 11% larger by area, and delivers a great screen-to-body ratio for a more enjoyable viewing experience. The VX2573 features including low EMI emission, Flicker-free, and Blue Light Filter eye-care technologies aim to establish a reliable and sincere commitment for the users' health. With its eye-catching look and its heath care benefits, the VX2573 series stands out from the crowd.

It's finally happened! ASUS took a long overdue plunge into the ocean of enthusiast storage, by unveiling the Republic of Gamers (ROG) RAIDR, a PCI-Express SSD that uses a number of mSATA SSD sub-units in an internal RAID 0 configuration that's abstract to the host. As it goes with every other ROG product, the RAIDR is dressed in secsi red+black, and uses a conventional full-height add-on card design that's completely covered by an EMI shield. The card connects to its host over PCI-Express 2.0 x4, and probably packs four mSATA 6 Gb/s sub-units, which make up various capacities.

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) introduces the XPand6104 Small Form Factor (SFF) system supporting a 3rd generation Intel Core i7 COM Express module. With commercial connectors, this SFF system can be utilized as an XPedite7450 COM Express development platform, a deployable SFF system, or a demo platform for applications requiring a high-performance Intel Core i7 processor solution.

In a natural convection-cooled SFF enclosure, the XPand6104 is ideal for Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP)-constrained applications at 2.10 in. (H) x 4.88 in. (W) x 7.70 in. (L) and weighing less than 4 lbs. It includes an XPedite7450 Intel Core i7 ruggedized COM Express module and an optional 1.8 in. SSD. The front panel features an RJ-45 Ethernet connector to a10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet port, a USB 2.0 connector to a USB 2.0 port, an eSATA connector to a SATA 3.0 Gb/s port, two micro-DB-9 connectors to RS-232 serial ports, a DisplayPort connector for graphics, reset and power switches, and status LEDs. It includes an integrated MIL-STD-704 28 V DC input voltage power supply with MIL-STD-461 EMI filtering and an external AC/DC 110 V AC input voltage power supply for development.

To provide the best user experience on the AMD platform, ASUS has refreshed a variety of motherboards, including mainstream channel models, dedicated products from ROG and the TUF Series, plus FM1 socket-compatible and power-efficient APU-based models. Each product offers a variety of new ASUS exclusive technologies such as digital power control, Remote GO!, and Network iControl, alongside innovative Fast Boot, ASUS Boot Setting, and DirectKey, all specifically leveraging upcoming Windows 8 capabilities. Both new and existing features have been tailored and tested to comply with the Windows 8 architecture for total stability and maximized utility, while all motherboards have gone through a full series of compatibility assurance tests in getting ready for the move to Windows 8.

ASUS displayed its latest sound card, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Phoebus. This card is designed for multichannel gaming audio. While it might not pack any fancy DSP that doesn't already exist, its AMP circuitry is so designed to give the best positional audio that could come handy with competitive online gaming. With this card, ASUS also brought to the fore C-Media's latest audio chipset, the CMI 8788DH Oxygen Express, which packs native PCI Express support. All PCI Express sound cards launched by ASUS so far feature OxygenHD and ASUS-rebadged AV-100 chipsets, that use legacy PCI, and hence depend on PCIe-to-PCI bridge chips by PLX to function on PCI Express.

The primary DAC for headphone/front-out channel of the ROG Phoebus is TI-BB PCM1792A, with stellar signal-noise ratio (SNR) of 127 dBA. Other main channels are handled by Cirrus Logic, probably the CS5381, with SNR of 120 dBA. There's also a tertiary Realtek ALC889 (110 dBA) CODEC that probably handles an independent set of audio channels, or handles the digital outputs, since it's licensed with a few Dolby technologies. On the AMP side, we spy bleeding-edge OPAMPs, a Texas Instruments 6120A2(?) AMP chip (for the headphones channel), etc.

Colorful, one of the biggest AICs in Asia, announces a limited edition GeForce GTX 460 graphics card, to commemorate iGame series have been founded for 2 years. iGame460 is one of the successful graphics cards in 2010, the cooler is used the Shark-inspired Bionic Design, both noise level and thermal performance are controlled pretty well, and the design won the KAPOK prize which is an weighty industry design award in China.

The GPUs of iGame460 limited edition have been chosen, and only 50 pieces are provided in total, each of them has exclusive serial number. It has 8 pieces Hynix DDR5 memory, which is the world's first 256MB (2Gb) capacity of each module and 6Gbps of the speed. On the PCB, there are 2 BIOS chips are installed so that it has two different clock modes (Normal/Turbo). In Normal mode, the clock keeps as the same as the reference edition and runs at 675/1350/3608MHz; but in Turbo mode, the clock is boosted to set 890/1780/4000MHz, users can select the mode they like by press the button on the bracket near by the mini HDMI port.

Colorful, one of the biggest AICs in Asia, announces their new product - a single-slot GTS450, named iGame450-1024M Buri-SLIM. We had seen the PCB of this item before, which quipped 3+1 phases VRM, all high-C POSCAP capacitors onboard, and driven by ONSENMI MOSFET. And the chocks attract many peoples' eyes- they are threaded installed on the PCB. And also, the PCB is ventilated, so it could improve the thermal performance for the components on the PCB.

Today, we are glad to see Colorful announces the full sample. The card uses a cooper base radiator. The air is leaded to left-top side by the vents which are tightly installed on the cooper base, and the exhaust will be radiated from the vents on the cooler cover and top side.

Huntkey Enterprise Group officially announces that "Radiation Protection for the Future", Huntkey SHIELD chassis global launching ceremony is scheduled to be presented in Shenzhen Huntkey Industrial Park on October 28. One of the major releases of the company in 2010, it would be distributed in the retail market as a middle/high-end product of Huntkey.

With the advance of technology and the proliferation of the Internet, the computer is today a must-have device in our daily life. It is nothing strange for an office lady, or business people to watch a movie, or play video games at home after eight hours of working in front of the screen. For them, over half of their time is spent on computers every day. It is hard to image what life would be without a computer. However, a computer generates radiation. The longer we use computer, the more risk of exposure to radiation hazard. While there are numerous reports online about computer radiation hazards, the most common include acne, balding and infertility.

The Pirate Bay, one of the largest BitTorrent tracker websites, that allows peer-to-peer file sharing and is infamous to host torrent links to copyrighted content on users' computers, is in legal soup vide a verdict from a Swedish Court of law. The Court has convicted four men responsible for running the website after its founding anti-copyright group, Piratebyran gave up control. The four men, Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde were found guilty of multiple counts of copyright infringement, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment. A fine of around US $3.5 million was further issued, with each of the four having to pay around $905,000.

The verdict comes as a victory for record companies, that welcome it, despite the fine imposed not being anywhere close to the $17.5 million + damages, several groups of record companies were pushing for. Speaking in a video address hosted on the website, Peter Sunde described the verdict as "bizarre". "It's so bizarre that we were convicted at all and it's even more bizarre that we were [convicted] as a team. The court said we were organized. I can't get Gottfrid out of bed in the morning. If you're going to convict us, convict us of disorganized crime" he said. Speaking about the fine, he said "We can't pay and we wouldn't pay. Even if I had the money I would rather burn everything I owned, and I wouldn't even give them the ashes."

As most of you already know, EMI has liberated it's music from the DRM (Digital Rights Management) monster, and Apple is the first company to support it. Apple will be distributing DRM-free music through iTunes right as soon as they settle their problems with the EU. However, some people don't like being forced into low-quality encoding (128 KB/s AAC) just so they can listen to DRM free music. Microsoft may be the answer to this problem. They are trying to get DRM-free EMI music into their Zune Marketplace, and negotiations are looking hopeful. There is no word as to what encoding this DRM free music will be in.