Over a year ago, industry watchdogs posited that Apple was patiently waiting in line at the front of TSMC's 2 Nanometer GAA "VVIP queue." The securing of cutting-edge manufacturing processes seems to be a consistent priority for the Cupertino, California-headquartered fabless chip designer. Current generation Apple chipsets—at best—utilize TSMC 3 nm (N3E) wafers. Up until very recently, many insiders believed that the projected late 2026 launch of A20 SoC-powered iPhone 18 smartphones would signal a transition to the Taiwanese foundry's advanced 2 nm (N2) node process. Officially, TSMC has roadmapped the start of 2 nm mass production around the second half of 2025.

According to Jeff Pu—a Hong Kong-based analyst at GF Securities—the speculated A20 (2026) chipset could stick with N3P. Leaks suggest that aspects of Apple's next in line "A19" and "A19 Pro" mobile SoCs could be produced via a 3 nm TSMC process. MacRumors has picked up on additional inside track whispers; about Apple M5 processors (for next-gen iPad Pro models) being based on N3P—"likely due to increased wafer costs." Pu reckons that Apple's engineering team has provisioned a major generational improvement with A20's AI capabilities, courtesy of TSMC's Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology. This significant upgrade is touted to tighten integration between the chip's processor, unified memory, and Neural Engine segments. Revised insider forecasts have positioned A21 chip designs as natural candidates for a shift into 2 nm GAA territories.

According to The Korea Economic Daily, an unlikely alliance—involving Samsung Electronics and Palantir Technologies—was formed at the end of last year. Late last week, insiders posited that the South Korean megacorporation's Foundry business was going through troubled times. It is not clear whether the assistance provided by Palantir's AI-infused suite has produced pleasing results chez Samsung's flagship production hubs, but insiders reckon that utilization of the software started just before Christmas. Local media outlets view this unusual pairing as a "gamble"—reportedly, the new-ish initiative has targeted an improved "semiconductor yield (ratio of good products in total production), quality, and productivity."

The Samsung Foundry appears to be going "all-in" with its 2 nm GAA node process; industry moles picked up on signals transmitted by an alleged special "task force (TF)." This elite team is reportedly entrusted with a challenging two-pronged goal; get 2 nm GAA over the finish line by late 2025, alongside the (connected) finalization of a much-rumored "Exynos 2600" mobile chipset. The Korea Economic Daily news article mentions the expansion of a "Samsung DS Division AI Center" back in December (2025), but falls short of labelling this department as the aforementioned "special task force." Despite a previous reluctance to share sensitive data with external companies, the latest report suggests a significant change in strategy. Further details were disclosed: "(Samsung's) collaboration with Palantir is handled by the DS Division AI Center...The AI Center is an organization that merged the DS Division Innovation Center and SAIT (formerly Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology) AI Center, and is developing DS Division-specific technologies using AI, advancing development software, building AI platforms, and controlling and advancing facilities and infrastructure." Around late February, industry inside trackers predicted continued "smooth" progress with the 2 nm GAA node. Samsung Foundry's fully upgraded "S2" mass production line is expected to come online by Q4 2025.

Not that long ago, an Xbox executive claimed that an Xbox handheld gaming device is still in the prototyping stage, with a launch expected to take place sometime in the next two to three years. There is no denying that the handheld segment is an incredibly lucrative space, boosted by the impressive performance and efficiency gains made by the chip giants in recent years. Microsoft clearly intends to take a piece of the pie, and as a recent report by Windows Central pointed out, the first Xbox-branded handheld is in development and may even see the light of day as early as the third or fourth quarter of this year. Now, a fresh report by The Verge has revealed that Microsoft might be collaborating with ASUS in order to bring the handheld gaming device to market.

This is quite interesting, considering that ASUS is one of the most well-known players in the handheld segment, thanks to its ROG Ally lineup. But the conflict of interest shouldn't be much of a hassle - Lenovo is also a major player in the segment, and did not hesitate teaming up with Valve to bring the first third-party SteamOS handheld to the market. Microsoft is likely targeting something similar, intending to combine Xbox and Windows platforms in order to improve the experience for developers and players alike, allowing better inter-compatibility of games between handheld, PC, and console platforms. Essentially, the handheld will reportedly feature an Xbox-like interface, but will be powered by Windows underneath. The aforementioned late-2025 launch timeline is still in place, but considering the very nature of early reports, accept this information with a grain of salt.

According to a Reuters technology report, Meta's engineering department is engaged in the testing of their "first in-house chip for training artificial intelligence systems." Two inside sources have declared this significant development milestone; involving a small-scale deployment of early samples. The owner of Facebook could ramp up production, upon initial batches passing muster. Despite a recent-ish showcasing of an open-architecture NVIDIA "Blackwell" GB200 system for enterprise, Meta leadership is reported to be pursuing proprietary solutions. Multiple big players—in the field of artificial intelligence—are attempting to breakaway from a total reliance on Team Green. Last month, press outlets concentrated on OpenAI's alleged finalization of an in-house design, with rumored involvement coming from Broadcom and TSMC.

One of the Reuters industry moles believes that Meta has signed up with TSMC—supposedly, the Taiwanese foundry was responsible for the production of test batches. Tom's Hardware reckons that Meta and Broadcom were working together with the tape out of the social media giant's "first AI training accelerator." Development of the company's "Meta Training and Inference Accelerator" (MTIA) series has stretched back a couple of years—according to Reuters, this multi-part project: "had a wobbly start for years, and at one point scrapped a chip at a similar phase of development...Meta last year, started using an MTIA chip to perform inference, or the process involved in running an AI system as users interact with it, for the recommendation systems that determine which content shows up on Facebook and Instagram news feeds." Leadership is reportedly aiming to get custom silicon solutions up and running for AI training by next year. Past examples of MTIA hardware were deployed with open-source RISC-V cores (for inference tasks), but is not clear whether this architecture will form the basis of Meta's latest AI chip design.

Frequenters of the MindFactory.de webshop have highlighted worrying signs of decline. A telling example was posted to the (German language) PCBaumeister subreddit; where a member queried: "what's going on at MindFactory? Only 12 Intel CPUs, 36 graphics cards (all brands), 30 monitors left on offer. Are they going bankrupt or are they emptying their inventory?" Similar alerts landed across PC hardware discussion boards—regional press outlets started to pay attention once a decent number of observations were tallied. Even VideoCardz started to receive tip-offs from its German readership, regarding MindFactory's very limited selection of previous-gen NVIDIA graphics cards (see screenshot below). According to the latest news articles, higher-end GeForce 40-series models are not listed. Additionally, there is a distinct lack of GeForce 50-series products on the webstore. VideoCardz found plenty of entries for AMD Radeon graphics cards, but nothing newer or more advanced than the RX 7800 XT.

Curious customers have contacted the webshop's service team, regarding low inventory and lack of product variety. A typical response reads as follows: "we (Mindfactory.de) are currently restructuring our store, which is why we have so few items in stock at the moment. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us." Following on from community tips, local media outlets have shared their own investigations—currently, several online sites propose that MindFactory is facing bankruptcy. WinFuture.de's article sports a prominent "Insolvenz—Freie Marktwirtschaft" graphic—translation: "insolvency—free-market capitalism." Igor Wallossek—of Igor's Lab fame—took issue with some of the sensationalistic headlines. He weighed in on this matter: "apparently, bankruptcy is to be filed for next week. I cannot speak about the background, it is extremely sensitive. I have known about it since Friday (February 28)." A dedicated news piece did not appear on igorslab.de, due to the following of an ethical code of conduct.

Over the past weekend, PC hardware news outlets spent time analyzing NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series price fluctuations. One keen market watcher—VideoCardz—has consistently stuck to a main theory of Team Green AIBs implementing last minute price hikes/market manipulations; coinciding with product launch periods. Almost two weeks ago, the online publication directed ire at ASUS and MSI—noted as very high profile board partners. The current GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card lineup is populated by custom designs only; a Founders Edition was not made available within this tier. VideoCardz and Hardware & Co. have observed worrying price trends with AIB-produced models that are supposed to conform to NVIDIA's baseline MSRP of $749 (USD). Their latest reports singled out MSI's North American webstore—already a source of some contention.

Hardware & Co. (a French outlet) observed movement at the bottom-end of the manufacturer's "Blackwell" GPU lineup: "in the case of the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti launched on February 20, 2025, it took nine days...for a "big" brand to officially turn its back on NVIDIA MSRP. On Saturday (March 1), MSI has just updated its RTX 50-series catalog on its official American website with new prices for the RTX 5070 Ti. From now on, the cheapest reference is $820, $70 more than MSRP." VideoCardz is steadfast in its belief that GeForce RTX 50-series "MSRPs are a joke" at this point in time. MSI's VENTUS 3X and (newer) SHADOW 3X models are barebones packages that are designed as alternatives to basic first-party solutions (i.e. Founders Editions)—but VideoCardz has accused the manufacturer of becoming its own "scalper," with (apparently) little intervention coming from NVIDIA. At the time of writing, MSI's US webstore has updated its GeForce RTX 5070 Ti VENTUS and SHADOW listings. Prices have (temporarily?) reverted to original figures (refer to the third screenshot below); likely in reaction to recent "constructive" criticism levied by popular hardware news sites. As evidenced by a sea of "notify me" tags, the official North American store appears to have zero stock in their warehouse(s).

Samsung's foundry operation has experienced many setbacks over the past six months, according to a steady feed of insider reports. Last November, industry moles leaked details of an apparent abandonment of the company's 3 nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process. Significant yield problems prompted an alleged shift into 2 nm territories, with a next-gen flagship Exynos mobile processor linked to this cutting-edge node. According to a mid-week Chosun Daily article, Samsung and its main rival—TSMC—are in a race to establish decent yields of 2 nm wafers, ahead of predicted "late 2025" mass production kick-offs. The publication's inside track points to the Taiwanese foundry making the most progress (with an estimated 60%), but watchdogs warn that it is too early to bet against the South Korean competitor.

Despite murmurs of current 20 - 30% yields, the Samsung's Hwaseong facility is touted to make "smooth" progress over the coming months. Chosun's sources believe that Samsung engineers struggled to get 3 nm GAA "up to snuff," spending around three years on development endeavors (in vain). In comparison, the making of 2 nm GAA is reported to be less bumpy. A fully upgraded "S3" foundry line is expected to come online by the fourth quarter of this year. An unnamed insider commented on rumors of better than anticipated forward motion chez Samsung Electronics: "there are positive aspects to this as it has shown technological improvements, such as the recent increase in the yield of its 4 nm process by up to 80%." Recent-ish reports suggest that foundry teams have dealt with budget cuts, as well as mounting pressure from company leadership to hit deadlines.

NVIDIA today reported revenue for the fourth quarter ended January 26, 2025, of $39.3 billion, up 12% from the previous quarter and up 78% from a year ago.

For the quarter, GAAP earnings per diluted share was $0.89, up 14% from the previous quarter and up 82% from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was $0.89, up 10% from the previous quarter and up 71% from a year ago.

NVIDIA's upcoming mid-range GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB model is almost ready for launch, according to recent reports. Industry moles reckon that GB205 GPU-based specimens are already in the clutches of press and influencer outlets; review embargoes are due to be lifted on March 4, for $549 MSRP conformant SKUs (as disclosed by a VideoCardz source). Last week, we heard whispers about Team Green's (allegedly) troubled production cycle for incoming GeForce RTX 5070 and RTX 5060 models.

Insiders insist that these issues have caused a delay; many believed that NVIDIA had (prior) plans for a February GeForce RTX 5070 launch. A revised schedule was leaked to VideoCardz; the publication posits that GeForce RTX 5070 cards will launch at retail on March 5, with non-MSRP ($549+) reviews projected to go live on the same day. Based on various leaks, NVIDIA and AMD will likely clash with their respective new offerings. Right now, reviewers could be dealing with sizable piles of competing Team Green and Team Red hardware. Graphics card enthusiasts will be looking forward to incoming comparisons—GeForce RTX 5070 and its Ti sibling versus Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 (non-XT).

The new ASUS ROG Astral graphics card design debuted last month, with the rollout of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 "Blackwell" GPUs. The flagship model—in overclocked form—is not a wallet-friendly prospect; as highlighted by W1zzard's in-depth evaluation. The "astronomically-priced" premium-tier quad-fan model is a hot property; in more ways than one—late last week, an unfortunate ownership experience was shared online. NVIDIA subreddit member—Impossible-Weight485—uploaded photo evidence, accompanied by a short story: "I was playing PC games this afternoon, and when I was done with the games, my PC suddenly shut down while I was browsing websites. When I restarted the PC, the GPU caught on fire, and smoke started coming out. When I took out the GPU, I saw burn marks on both the GPU and the motherboard." Post-absorption, initial community and press feedback posited that the problem originated with a Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor (MLCC), located not far from the card's PCI-E interface.

High-profile figures soon swooped in, with different theories and offers. A Team Green subreddit moderator weighed in: "not adding this one to our GeForce RTX 50 Series 12VHPWR Megathread. This looks to be a blown power phase, and not melting power connector. The original poster provided additional photos of the cable, in addition to the GPU connector photo in the post. Both looks pristine...Yes, I watched Buildzoid's video (see below), hence updating this comment...Thanks to Buildzoid for the education!" The owner uploaded another interior shot, seemingly showing burn damage on their ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X870E HERO motherboard. The severity of this incident attracted the attention of Gamers Nexus—Lelldorianx (aka Stephen Burke) reached out to the damaged card's owner: "messaging you. We'd buy the board and GPU from you if you want to just take the cash and buy something else (or) skip the RMA process." Burke and his colleagues are actively investigating various GeForce RTX 50-series "pratfalls"—earlier this month, reports indicated that the team was already engaged in the sourcing of problematic units.

Over the past three weeks, press outlets and the buying public have levelled heavy criticism at NVIDIA board partners. The launches of three GeForce RTX 50-series "Blackwell" GPUs have—so far—been problematic; based on news reports and community feedback. Prior to release (on February 20), VideoCardz anticipated major price fluctuations for an all-custom portfolio of GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards. The publication did not hold back with its targeting of ASUS; one of Team Green's big time AIBs. Only a small selection of baseline MSRP ($749) conformant models were available on day one, and VideoCardz posited that manufacturers would implement price hikes soon after launch. A follow-up report continues their investigation into a lack of baseline MSRP options, as well as so-called "fake promotions."

VideoCardz repeated its belief that ASUS will jack-up the asking price for its PRIME GeForce RTX 5070 Ti model. When looking at Newegg's listing of baseline MSRP cards, the intrepid investigator stumbled up another notable absence: "we wrote three articles about the ASUS RTX 5070 Ti PRIME model not being listed as an MSRP card by retailers, which finally led ASUS to intervene (most likely for a limited time) to sell this card at the promised price. What we can immediately notice is the lack of the VENTUS 3X model from MSI, which was basically 90% of the MSRP card review coverage yesterday, as NVIDIA had no Founders Edition card for this launch and relied on board partners. In fact, the VENTUS 3X non-OC is not even included in the official launch, meaning that the card you saw yesterday in reviews is simply not available anywhere." It should be noted that TechPowerUp received an MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Ventus 3X OC sample unit for evaluation purposes (review guide pricing was $749); Newegg lists this particular model with a current $829.99 price point, but stock is unavailable (at the time of writing).

The $3,499 Apple Vision Pro AR/VR headset is certainly not the kind of device that Apple expects to be mass-adopted. Since its launch in 2023, the luxurious gadget is yet to witness a single hardware refresh. The gadget's aging M2 SoC paired with 16 GB of memory is almost three years old, but despite that, respected analyst Mark Gurman expects the device to soon sport Apple Intelligence features alongside the upcoming VisionOS 2.4 update that is scheduled for April. Considering that a hardware update is not expected to hit the scene for at least the rest of the year, a major software update is welcome news for the select few of us who have invested in the product.

The fact that the Vision Pro will support Apple Intelligence features is actually not much of a shocker, since Macs as old as the M1-generation also boast support for Apple's AI features. As such, the Vision Pro will soon receive support for Apple's writing tools with ChatGPT-integration, genmoji, image playground, as well as a bunch of other features with debatable efficacy. Moreover, the report also adds that the device will also get a new app for spatial experiences - which was undoubtedly one of the key selling points of the device. A 'revamped' guest mode is also on the cards, which will allow buyers to share the device with their family and friends - a factor that Apple considers important in order to drive sales. That said, the Vision Pro had abysmal sales to begin with, which indicates that a lower-end variant with a reasonable price tag might be the only way to make even the most ardent of Apple disciples to hop on the VR/AR hype train.

A Bloomberg report said Silver Lake Management, a large private equity firm, has begun exclusive talks to buy a controlling stake in Intel's Altera division. Altera focuses on versatile chips that are widely used in telecommunications networks. The size of the stake is still being worked out, but negotiations have moved forward, people familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity. They caution that things could slow down or the deal might not happen. When asked, people speaking for Intel and Silver Lake did not comment.

The news jolted the market, sending Intel shares up as much as 17% on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, marking their biggest single-day gain in nearly five years. The surge was driven in part by separate speculation about a potential spinoff involving Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). By late afternoon trading in New York, Intel shares were up 15%, valuing the company at about $117 billion. If the sale goes through, it would mark a major shift for Intel as it tries to reshape its business. While there is no information on the size of the deal, last November Lattice Semiconductor Corp. and a group of buyout firms expressed interest in Altera. Some insiders said that potential buyers valued Altera at just $9 billion, a big drop for Intel, which bought Altera in 2015 for about $17 billion. Intel faces continued challenges following Gelsinger's departure, as the company searches for both a new CEO and a replacement for its Data Center and AI division head, who recently left to become Nokia's chief executive.

Loongson Technology has announced its next-generation 3B6600 processor—according to recent Chinese press reports, early details were disclosed in "investor relations activity" documentation. Their eight-core design is still in development, with the fabless company (allegedly) setting some lofty performance goals. According to a MyDrivers report (citing Fast Technology), the 3B6600 processor's single-core and multi-core "high level" performance is touted to match that of Core i5 and i7 offerings from Intel's 12th and 13th Generation portfolios. In the past, Loongson has compared its older products to Western equivalents. Last year, their 3A6000 chip design was mentioned in the same sentence as "AMD Zen 4 and Intel Raptor Lake" processor families. Around November 2023, reports had it approximating Team Blue Core i3-10100 "Comet Lake" CPU performance.

The next-gen 3B6600 CPU is supposedly using its predecessor (3A6000) as a springboard; MyDrivers believes that the same in-house LoongArch ISA design (fabricated on 12 nm/14 nm) will be revisited. The publication highlighted a significant area of optimization: "single-core performance of 3B6600 is expected to be in the world's leading ranks...Loongson 3B6600 will continue to use mature technology, and the architecture core will be upgraded to the new LA864. The same frequency performance is greatly improved by about 30%, compared with the Loongson 3A6000's LA664 architecture." Loongson engineers are reportedly targeting a maximum turboboost frequency of 3.0 GHz, but under normal operation the 3B6600 chip is predicted to offer a main frequency of 2.5 GHz. The new design will integrate a new "LG200 GPGPU" graphics computing core—additionally, supported standards include: DDR5 memory, PCIe 4.0 bus, and HDMI 2.1.

A leaked document has revealed an alleged review release date of March 5; occurring the day before a rumored global market release of AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 graphics cards. VideoCardz has reported on its inspection of "NDA materials" intended for members of the press. Team Red has officially announced a proper RDNA 4-themed event; February 28 is an important date on their calendar. Fresh reportage suggests that hardware media outlets and online influencers will be briefed next week, mere days away from AMD's highly-anticipated presentation.

Following head-scratching delays and a secretive marketing strategy (earlier on in 2025), Team Red and its AIB co-conspirators are expected to deliver full specifications, performance data, and pricing during next week's special event. Leaks have pointed to a possible March 6 launch; VideoCardz did not spot any mentioning of this specific date in leaked Radeon RX 9070 NDA documents. A steady flow of insider knowledge has already hinted at speculative "Navi 48" technical details and pre-release performance figures. Will AMD confirm (rumored) PCIe 5.0 connectivity, or acknowledge leaked "Pro" 32 GB variants (with less sarcasm)?

GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards are due to hit international markets this Thursday (February 20), only in custom design form. NVIDIA will not be rolling out a Founders Edition model for this mid-to-high GPU product tier. Yesterday, an NDA-busting leak emerged online; hinting at a mixed bag of synthetic benchmark scores. When compared to new-gen and past-gen siblings, the incoming GB203 GPU-based family's "price-to-performance ratio" was greeted with plenty of online community skepticism. Considering that only a minority of AIB companies are reportedly engaged in the supply of cheaper offerings, the early outlook for overall GeForce RTX 5070 Ti launch pricing is generating further dissatisfaction. Team Green's first wave of "Blackwell" gaming GPUs launched late last month, straight into chaotic market conditions.

At CES 2025, NVIDIA set a baseline MSRP of $749. Fresh reports suggest that hardware review outlets will be delivering comprehensive verdicts tomorrow. VideoCardz believes that the lifted review embargo will be "exclusively for MSRP cards," based on information gleaned from their network of press contacts. The GPU specialist publication has kept tabs on fluctuating GeForce RTX 50-series prices for a while—several recent reports have levelled criticism at prominent Team Green board partners; namely ASUS and MSI. Plenty of venom was directed at the former, due to last month's launch of the: "GeForce RTX 5080 PRIME non-OC model at MSRP, and it was covered in the first reviews...Except, it was increased by 26% the following week. This way, ASUS has cheated the system and got both the early coverage and was still able to sell cards at a higher price." VideoCardz predicts a similar pattern for this week's release of custom GeForce RTX 5070 Ti designs, in particular ASUS PRIME and TUF Gaming SKUs. Their latest report directed additional ire toward the source of all things Blackwell: "unless NVIDIA has no problem with this, this is not how MSRP cards should be announced. It is very misleading for customers and puts reviewers in a very bad light. Their conclusions might be completely different if the card is said to cost much more."

The global semiconductor manufacturing industry closed 2024 with strong fourth quarter results and solid year-on-year (YoY) growth across most of the key industry segments, SEMI announced today in its Q4 2024 publication of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Monitor (SMM) Report, prepared in partnership with TechInsights. The industry outlook is cautiously optimistic at the start of 2025 as seasonality and macroeconomic uncertainty may impede near-term growth despite momentum from strong investments related to AI applications.

After declining in the first half of 2024, electronics sales bounced back later in the year resulting in a 2% annual increase. Electronics sales grew 4% YoY in Q4 2024 and are expected to see a 1% YoY increase in Q1 2025 impacted by seasonality. Integrated circuit (IC) sales rose by 29% YoY in Q4 2024 and continued growth is expected in Q1 2025 with a 23% increase YoY as AI-fueled demand continues boosting shipments of high-performance computing (HPC) and datacenter memory chips.

ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd., the leading provider of semiconductor assembly and testing services ("ATM") and the provider of electronic manufacturing services ("EMS"), today reported its unaudited net revenues of NT$162,264 million for 4Q24, up by 1.0% year-over-year and up by 1.3% sequentially. Net income attributable to shareholders of the parent for the quarter totaled NT9,312 million, down from NT$9,392 million in 4Q23 and down from NT$9,733 million in 3Q24. Basic earnings per share for the quarter were NT$2.15 (or US$0.134 per ADS), compared to NT$2.18 for 4Q23 and NT$2.25 for 3Q24. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were NT$2.07 (or US$0.129 per ADS), compared to NT$2.13 for 4Q23 and NT$2.18 for 3Q24.

For the full year of 2024, the Company reported unaudited net revenues of NT$595,410 million and net income attributable to shareholders of the parent of NT$32,483 million. Basic earnings per share for the full year of 2024 were NT$7.52 (or US$0.470 per ADS). Diluted earnings per share for the full year of 2024 were NT$7.23 (or US$0.452 per ADS).

GlobalFoundries Inc. (GF), today announced preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

"In the fourth quarter, the GF team delivered solid financial results that exceeded the Non-IFRS midpoint of the guidance ranges we provided in our November earnings release," said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, President and CEO of GF. "2024 presented a unique set of challenges for our industry, but thanks to our focus on operational excellence, we generated over $1 billion of Non-IFRS adjusted free cash flow. As we look to 2025, we are encouraged by our strong design win momentum across our end markets and product portfolio as we position GF for a growth year."

Unlucky owners of problematic GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 graphics cards have posted feedback across various online community sites. Press outlets started to take notice of these documented issues soon after the launch of NVIDIA's debut wave of "Blackwell" GPUs. PC Gamer has "kept track" of reports relating to black screens and miscellaneous failures—the site published an investigative article late last week, following user feedback "hitting critical mass" across Reddit and Team Green's own forum. A request for comment was sent over to NVIDIA HQ; PC Gamer received a brief response. A company spokesperson confirmed that their team is: "investigating the reported issues with the RTX 50-series."

Several PC hardware community members have documented their troubleshooting experiences—the most common suggestion involves downshifting from a PCIe 5.0 connection to 4.0, on the PEG-16 graphics port. Unfortunately, this step did not resolve black screen issues for certain owners—a member of the buildapc subreddit explored a wide array of troubleshooting channels. They re-installed Windows 11 (23H2), adjusted BIOS settings, experimented with monitor connections, and played around with drivers. Best results were produced by connecting a single monitor to their MSI GeForce RTX 5090 GAMING TRIO OC's DisplayPort, with nothing else hooked up to the other ports (DP and HDMI). They suspect that Team Green's GPU drivers could be the source of frustrations; corroborated by a recent VideoCardz news piece. In addition, the 572.16 driver is reportedly affecting "certain GeForce RTX 40-series." A smaller number of owners have discussed a "bricking" of cards; VideoCardz believes that China-exclusive GeForce RTX 5090D models are suffering the most. Manli will be analyzing a "bricked" unit at its service center, in the near future. Colorful did not reply with a comment on the situation.

AMD today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024. Fourth quarter revenue was a record $7.7 billion, gross margin was 51%, operating income was $871 million, net income was $482 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.29. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was 54%, operating income was a record $2.0 billion, net income was a record $1.8 billion and diluted earnings per share was $1.09.

For the full year 2024, AMD reported record revenue of $25.8 billion, gross margin of 49%, operating income of $1.9 billion, net income of $1.6 billion, and diluted earnings per share of $1.00. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was a record 53%, operating income was $6.1 billion, net income was $5.4 billion and diluted earnings per share was $3.31.

At the end of January, Samsung Electronics released their financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year 2024. Smartphone tech watchdogs paid close to attention to the South Korean giant's accompanying earnings call. The recently released Galaxy S25 smartphone family is, exclusively, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipsets—insiders believe that Samsung opted out of utilizing proprietary chip designs (for this generation) due to missed production goals. Late last year, inside sources pointed to the foundry's allegedly problematic 3 nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process node. Follow-up reports suggest that Samsung engineers have moved onto developing a 2 nm manufacturing process, possibly linked to a re-designed Exynos 2500 flagship mobile processor.

Brian Ma, a technology industry analyst, extracted relevant information from Samsung's recent earnings meeting—several press outlets have picked up on his brief social media post. The IDC employee stated: "Samsung System LSI just mentioned in its earnings call that it's optimizing Exynos 2500 and 'aiming' to secure design wins for mobile models scheduled for release in 2H" The rumor mill has proposed that new "Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Fold 7" smartphone models are currently in the development pipeline—coincidental timing indicates that the two devices could launch later in 2025, potentially with next-gen flagship Exynos SoCs onboard. Tipsters reckon that the Exynos 2500 is configured with a 10-core cluster, and its integrated graphics solution will be an AMD RDNA 3.5-enabled Xclipse 950 model.

According to widespread user reports from Chinese tech forums and Reddit communities, multiple RTX 5090 and 5090D graphics cards are failing permanently after standard driver installation. The issue affects both the standard RTX 5090 and the export-modified 5090D variant released for the Chinese market on January 30th. Users report consistent failure patterns: upon initial driver installation, displays go dark, and systems permanently lose the ability to detect the GPU through both DisplayPort and HDMI interfaces. Hardware failures have been documented across multiple board partners, with Colorful, Manli, and Gigabyte cards showing identical symptoms. Third-party vendor reports sometimes indicate potential IC burn damage, suggesting hardware-level failure rather than recoverable software issues.

Some investigations point to PCIe Gen 5 implementation as a possible root cause. The RTX 5090 series represents NVIDIA's first fully Gen 5-compliant GPU architecture, introducing new signal integrity challenges. Some users report temporary mitigation by forcing PCIe 4.0 mode in BIOS settings, though this workaround remains unverified. Additional complications arise from modern motherboard designs that share PCIe lanes between M.2 storage and graphics slots. The failure pattern appears consistent across both domestic and international markets. On r/ASUS, users report identical detection failures persisting through CMOS resets and system rebuilds. Chinese forum documentation shows systematic failures across multiple board partner implementations, suggesting a fundamental architecture or driver compatibility issue rather than isolated manufacturing defects. NVIDIA has not issued official guidance on the failures.Below are screenshots of the reported user problems:

Western Digital Corp. today reported fiscal second quarter 2025 financial results.

"As we finalize the separation of our businesses, we are confident that both Western Digital and Sandisk will continue driving innovation and providing compelling storage solutions to customers while delivering long-term shareholder value," said David Goeckeler, Western Digital CEO. "We expect that our strong performance in HDD and our strategic approach to managing our Flash business within the New Era of NAND will allow each company to capture the growing demand for storage driven by the AI Data Cycle."

Today, ASML Holding NV (ASML) has published its 2024 fourth-quarter and full-year results.

• Q4 total net sales of €9.3 billion, gross margin of 51.7%, net income of €2.7 billion
• Quarterly net bookings in Q4 of €7.1 billion of which €3.0 billion is EUV
• 2024 total net sales of €28.3 billion, gross margin of 51.3%, net income of €7.6 billion
• ASML expects Q1 2025 total net sales between €7.5 billion and €8.0 billion, and a gross margin between 52% and 53%
• ASML expects 2025 total net sales to be between €30 billion and €35 billion, with a gross margin between 51% and 53%

CEO statement and outlook
"Our fourth-quarter was a record in terms of revenue, with total net sales coming in at €9.3 billion, and a gross margin of 51.7%, both above our guidance. This was primarily driven by additional upgrades. We also recognized revenue on two High NA EUV systems. We shipped a third High NA EUV system to a customer in the fourth quarter.