Silicon Box, a cutting-edge, advanced panel-level packaging foundry announced its intention to collaborate with the Italian government to invest up to $3.6 billion (€3.2 billion) in Northern Italy, as the site of a new, state-of-the-art semiconductor assembly and test facility. This facility will help meet critical demand for advanced packaging capacity to enable next generation technologies that Silicon Box anticipates by 2028. The multi-year investment will replicate Silicon Box's flagship foundry in Singapore which has proven capability and capacity for the world's most advanced semiconductor packaging solutions, then expand further into 3D integration and testing. When completed, the new facility will support approximately 1,600 Silicon Box employees in Italy. The construction of the facility is also expected to create several thousand more jobs, including eventual hiring by suppliers. Design and planning for the facility will begin immediately, with construction to commence pending European Commission approval of planned financial support by the Italian State.

As well as bringing the most advanced chiplet integration, packaging, and testing to Italy, Silicon Box's manufacturing process is based on panel-level-production; a world leading, first-of-its-kind combination that is already shipping product to customers from its Singapore foundry. Through the investment, Silicon Box has plans for greater innovation and expansion in Europe, and globally. The new integrated production facility is expected to serve as a catalyst for broader ecosystem investments and innovation in Italy, as well as the rest of the European Union.

At MWC Barcelona 2024, Huawei launched the Huawei OptiXtrans DC908 Pro, a new platform for Data Center Interconnect (DCI) designed for the intelligent era. This innovative platform ensures the efficient, secure, and stable transmission of data between data centers (DCs), setting a new standard for DCI networks. As AI continues to proliferate across various service scenarios, the demand for foundation models has intensified, leading to an explosion in data volume. DCs are now operating at the petabyte level, and DCI networks have evolved from single-wavelength 100 Gbit/s to single-wavelength Tbit/s.

In response to the challenges posed by massive data transmission in the intelligent era, Huawei introduces the next-generation DCI platform, the Huawei OptiXtrans DC908 Pro. Compared to its predecessor, the DC908 Pro offers higher bandwidth, reliability, and intelligence.

The NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPU was last year's hot item for HPC and AI industry segments—the largest purchasers were reported to have acquired up to 150,000 units each. Demand grew so much that lead times of 36 to 52 weeks became the norm for H100-based server equipment. The latest rumblings indicate that things have stabilized—so much so that some organizations are "offloading chips" as the supply crunch cools off. Apparently it is more cost-effective to rent AI processing sessions through cloud service providers (CSPs)—the big three being Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

According to a mid-February Seeking Alpha report, wait times for the NVIDIA H100 80 GB GPU model have been reduced down to around three to four months. The Information believes that some companies have already reduced their order counts, while others have hardware sitting around, completely unused. Maintenance complexity and costs are reportedly cited as a main factors in "offloading" unneeded equipment, and turning to renting server time from CSPs. Despite improved supply conditions, AI GPU demand is still growing—driven mainly by organizations dealing with LLM models. A prime example being Open AI—as pointed out by The Information—insider murmurings have Sam Altman & Co. seeking out alternative solutions and production avenues.

EdgeCortix, the Japan-based fabless semiconductor company focused on energy-efficient AI processing, announced today that the Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA), Japan Ministry of Defense, will include the groundbreaking edge AI startup alongside an elite group of leading Japanese companies to represent Japan's air and defense innovation landscape at ATLA's booth at the Singapore Airshow to be held February 20 - 25. The Singapore Airshow is one of the largest and most influential shows of its kind in the world, and the largest in Asia, seeing as many as 50,000 attendees per biennial show. Over 1,000 companies from 50 countries are expected to participate in the 2024 show.

EdgeCortix's flagship product, the SAKURA-I chip, will be featured among a small handful of influential Japanese innovations at the booth. SAKURA-I is a dedicated co-processor that delivers high compute efficiency and low latency for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads that are carried out "at the edge", where the data is collected and mission critical decisions need to be made - far away from a datacenter. SAKURA-I delivers orders of magnitude better energy efficiency and processing speed than conventional semiconductors (ex: GPUs & CPUs), while drastically reducing operating costs for end users.

WARBONDS: Supporting the Galactic War Effort—Getting geared up for the battlefield in Helldivers 2. What would a Helldiver be without their equipment? Our Deputy Game Director, Sagar Beroshi, sat down to talk to PlayStation Studios about the Warbond system in Helldivers 2! What is a Warbond? "We're trying to model a unique type of live service with the Warbonds. They're like getting a treasure chest full of toys," Sagar says. And he's right: the Warbonds are your ticket to fighting the Galactic War in style with lots of unlockable gear, but they reflect the changing tides of war on Super Earth as well. "It's been a century since the last game, and Super Earth is starting to get its military-industrial complex churning again. And to whom would it be better to offer gear than the Helldivers?" The items available will each have unique features that can offer a variety of tactics for play. "You're going to see some really cool items in the game, each one giving you different ways to approach problems within missions. So, get ready to armor up, drop in, and erase some enemy scum."

How do they work?
Warbonds give you access to multiple pages of unlockable content that can be obtained in a couple of different ways. Apart from the first Warbond—Helldivers Mobilize—which has been graciously gifted to you by Super Earth, you can unlock new Premium Warbonds using Super Credits. Super Credits can either be purchased from the in-game store or discovered in missions by exploring points of interest. Once you own a Warbond, you spend your hard earned medals to unlock your desired toys. Medals are awarded by completing objectives, missions, and operations. Medals can also be found the old-fashioned way by exploring the battlefield. Do you hate FOMO? We do! Sagar wants to be clear about the monetization in Helldivers 2: "At Arrowhead, we're gamers too, and we want these Warbonds to feel modern, fun, and in line with the Arrowhead style. This is important to us: the Warbonds are NOT a pay-to-win, FOMO-driven system. Instead, the gear in the Warbonds just keeps accumulating. We will not retire earlier Warbonds as new ones are released - you can pick them up and complete them at any time!"

Get ready to embark on a thrilling scientific adventure in Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. Saber Interactive, the renowned studio behind MudRunner and SnowRunner, has revealed an exciting new trailer that gives an overview of all the ways to overcome the immense wilderness awaiting you on March 5, 2024 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. To overcome all the challenges, select carefully the tools that will accompany you. Each successful mission also earns you a sum of money, which you can invest in new, even more efficient vehicles, or in a wide range of parts to improve them. Be forward-thinking and creative!

Pre-order the Supreme Edition, Year 1 Edition, or Standard Edition now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam or Epic Games Store for exclusive content. For more information, visit the official Focus Store page. Players getting the Supreme Edition or the Year 1 Edition will be able to play ahead of the release on March 1st.Embark on scientific expeditions with this new off-road adventure from the creators of MudRunner and SnowRunner. Lead research missions as you drive a variety of all-terrain vehicles, using high-tech tools and managing your camp and crew to ensure your success in the wild.

Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) has successfully developed a photomask manufacturing process capable of accommodating the 3-nanometer (10-9 meter) lithography process that supports Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithography, the cutting-edge process for semiconductor manufacturing.

Background
DNP has continually responded to the demands of semiconductor manufacturers in terms of performance and quality. In 2016, we became the world's first merchant photomask manufacturer to introduce the multi-beam mask writing tool (MBMW). In 2020, we developed a photomask manufacturing process for 5 nm EUV lithography processes, and have been supplying masks that meet the needs of the semiconductor market. In this latest development, in order to meet the needs of further miniaturization, we have developed a photomask for EUV lithography capable of supporting 3 nm processes.

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

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

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.

Today, the US authorities published the updated version of the advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing equipment rule, imposing additional restrictions on export of advanced chip manufacturing technology. These regulations will become effective after a period of 30 days. Given the length and complexity of the regulations, ASML will need to carefully assess any potential implications. However, as to our business, from the information we received, it is our understanding that the new regulations will be applicable to a limited number of fabs in China related to advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

These export control measures will likely have an impact on the regional split of our systems sales in the medium to long term. However, we do not expect these measures to have a material impact on our financial outlook for 2023 and for our longer-term scenarios for 2025 and 2030, as communicated during our Investor Day in November 2022. ASML will seek further clarification from the US authorities on the scope of these new regulations. ASML is fully committed to comply with all applicable laws and regulations including export control legislation in the countries in which we operate.

As autumn continues, we have another week of big game releases to look forward to, hopefully with something that'll suit most gamers here. This week's AAA title involves a lot of sand, wars and monuments. As for the rest of this week's new games, you can be a tycoon, a driver of very expensive motor vehicles, craft your own stick, pretend to be a starship captain or you could be a monster slayer. Let us know if any of these tickle your fancy in the poll.

Total War: Pharaoh / This week's AAA title / Wednesday 11 October
In Total War: Pharaoh, the newest entry in the award-winning grand strategy series, immerse yourself in ancient Egypt at the zenith of its power and experience the dramatic events that threaten its destruction. With dynamic real-time battles and incredible turn-based empire management, can you rise above your adversaries to become Egypt's last great Pharaoh and stand against the collapse of an iconic civilisation?

Reuters appears to be following every (internal) step that TSMC takes—their latest report suggests that company leadership has "told its major suppliers to delay the delivery of high-end chip making equipment." Two anonymous sources believe that execs are anxious about a predicted decrease in customer demand, and cost control plans have been implemented as a temporary measure. ASML is allegedly one of the vendors affected by TSMC's decision making.

Reuters conducted an interview with ASML CEO Peter Wennink a week prior—he acknowledged that some orders for high-end tools had been pushed back, without naming specific client identities, but the situation should resolve itself shortly. He stated that it was a mere "short-term management" issue: "we've had several (news) reports about fab readiness. Not only in Arizona... but also in Taiwan." ASML is reported to be operating at maximum capacity, and overall sales are forecast to grow 30% this financial year.

China has sharply increased imports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment in recent months, customs data reveals. The country's purchases of chip production tools surged to record highs of nearly $5 billion in June and July, a 70% increase versus the same period last year, which amounted to $2.9 billion. The spike comes right before export restrictions on advanced chipmaking equipment are implemented by the U.S. and its allies. The moves aim to slow China's technological advancement, but Chinese chipmakers are stockpiling to avoid disruptions. Much of the equipment comes from the Netherlands and Japan, which have imposed licensing requirements on certain tool exports. While it's unclear how many are affected, the rush suggests China wants to expand production capacity and buffer against supply chain issues.

Chinese firms like SMIC and YMTC rely heavily on U.S., Dutch, and Japanese suppliers for cutting-edge manufacturing equipment. They are utilizing imported tools to boost the output of mature chips not subject to controls, particularly for electric vehicles, renewable energy, and industrial applications. Significantly, imports from the Netherlands doubled as lithography machines were delivered to Chinese foundries. Purchases from Japan also rose as companies procured etching tools and wafer coaters after 2020 U.S. restrictions. Newly established foundries backed by local governments contributed as Beijing pushed chip production expansions. Despite export control challenges, China aims to keep advancing its semiconductor capabilities. The import spike highlights intensified efforts to build self-sufficiency using older technology not covered by current limits.

With sequential IC sales declines beginning to moderate, the global semiconductor industry appears to be nearing the end of a downcycle and is expected to begin to recover in 2024, SEMI, in partnership with TechInsights, reported in the Semiconductor Manufacturing Monitor. In Q3 2023, electronics sales are projected to post healthy quarter-on-quarter growth of 10%, while memory IC sales are expected to log double-digit growth for the first time since the downturn started in Q3 2022. Logic IC sales are predicted to remain stable and improve as demand gradually recovers.

Headwinds will continue for the semiconductor manufacturing sector in the second half of the year, SEMI and TechInsights reported. Drawdowns of high inventory at integrated device manufacturer (IDM) and fabless companies will continue to suppress fab utilization rates to much lower levels than those in the first half of 2023. The weakness is projected to extend declines in capital equipment billings and silicon shipments for the rest of the year despite stable results in the first half of 2023.

On June 30th, the Netherlands introduced new export restrictions on advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Despite facing export controls from the US, Japan, and the Netherlands, TrendForce anticipates the market share of Chinese foundries in terms of 12-inch wafer production capacity will likely increase from 24% in 2022 to an estimated 26% in 2026. Moreover, if the exports of 40/28 nm equipment eventually receive approval, there's a chance that this market share could expand even further, possibly reaching 28% by 2026. This growth potential should not be dismissed.

Several manufacturing processes including photolithography, deposition, and epitaxy will be subject to these recent export restrictions. Beginning September 1st, the export of all controlled items will require formal authorization. TrendForce reports that Chinese foundries have been primarily developing mature processes like 55 nm, 40 nm, and 28 nm. Furthermore, demand for deposition equipment can be largely met by local Chinese vendors, meaning concerns regarding expansion and development are minimal. The main limiting factor, however, remains the equipment used in photolithography.

Huawei announced they will launch a complete set of commercial 5.5G network equipment in 2024 at the 5G Advanced Forum during MWC Shanghai 2023. Huawei's Director and President of ICT Products & Solutions Yang Chaobin who made the announcement said the company intends for this launch to mark the beginning of the 5.5G era for the ICT industry.

5G deployment progressed rapidly over the past four years and is already yielding significant financial gains. Today, there are more than 260 commercial 5G networks worldwide, serving over 1.2 billion users, and there are already 115 million gigabit F5G users. With service models and content continuously evolving, breakthroughs in technologies like glasses-free 3D are creating unprecedented immersive experiences for users. However, these new services continue to require stronger 5G network capabilities. The industry has widely agreed that 5.5G will be a key milestone in 5G evolution, and that it is fast approaching.

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce shared the Biden-Harris Administration's strategic vision to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain through CHIPS for America investments. To advance this vision, the Department announced a funding opportunity and application process for large semiconductor supply chain projects and will release later in the fall a separate process for smaller projects. Large semiconductor supply chain projects include materials and manufacturing equipment facility projects with capital investments equal to or exceeding $300 million, and smaller projects are below that threshold.

The announcement leads into the Biden-Harris Administration's Investing in America tour, where Secretary Raimondo and leaders in the Administration will fan across more than 20 states to highlight investments, jobs, and economic opportunity driven by President Biden's Investing in America agenda and the historic legislation he's passed in his first two years in office, including the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act.

The United States government has imposed sanctions on companies exporting their goods to China with the aim of limiting the country's technological advancements. This forced many companies to reduce their shipments of the latest technologies; however, according to the latest information from The Wall Street Journal, the Biden administration will allow companies to keep expanding their production capacities in China. As the source notes, quoting statements from government officials, the top semiconductor makers such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC, all of which have a chip production facility in China, will be allowed to expand the production capacity without any US backlash.

Of course, this does not contradict the plan of a US export-control policy, which the administration plans to continue. Alan Estevez, undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, noted last week in the industry gathering that the US plans to continue these restrictions for another year. Reportedly, all manufacturers of wafer fab equipment (WFE) from the US must acquire an export license from the Department of Commerce before exporting any tools for making either logic of memory chip indented for customers in China. Chipmakers Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC all received their licenses to export from October 2022 to October 2023. However, the US government now allows these companies to continue upgrading their Chinese plans beyond the renewed license expiry date of October 2024.

Logitech has announced the merging of its microphone and audio equipment brands - their G Gaming Twitter account posted about this decision yesterday, and directed customers to a question and answer session on the official subreddit: "Where do you get support? How will ASTRO, Blue and LFC integrate into Logitech G? Will there be new ASTRO products? Get your questions answered with our official FAQ." A brand manager has since confirmed (via a fan query) that the Blue brand is getting nixxed: "We will be keeping the Yeti brand and moving it under Logitech G. The Blue name will be used to describe our technologies." Logitech spent a cool $177 million when it acquired Blue Microphones back in mid-2018, so it is odd that the company has chosen to drop a very recognizable and popular brand name in the worlds of podcasting, streaming and audio recording.

News outlets have discovered that Blue has been removed from the brands section of Logitech's website, and the Bluemic.com domain now directs back to the parent company's main online presence(s). The Logitech G sub-page has been updated with listings of Yeti, Snowball and other microphone models. A brand manager also outlined ASTRO's future: "(it will) continue to live on as a premium console audio product series underneath the Logitech G brand. Stay tuned for more information regarding ASTRO including a launch that we think our community will be very excited about...We're (also) very excited about ASTRO as a product series under Logitech G."

Apricorn, the leading manufacturer of software-free, 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encrypted USB drives, today announced the release of the USB 10Gbs Aegis NVX. Employing proprietary architecture, The Aegis NVX is the first Apricorn encrypted device to feature an NVMe SSD inside. Initial capacity offerings will be 500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB, with a price range of $339.00 - $739.00 MSRP.

The NVX was conceived to address the immediate protection of raw data delivered directly from its source at high speeds, such as high-definition video cameras with the capability to write to an external SSD via USB C or HDMI. The NVX's high-speed read/write capabilities at 1,000 MB/s are sought after in the fields of military intelligence, digital forensics, filmmaking and healthcare where write speeds over 600 Mb/s are critical.

Seagate is celebrating the debut shipment of very sophisticated storage solutions to a preferred client (dealing in the cloud data center sector). These 30+ terabyte hard drives are based on heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology - the American data storage company is setting up its next generation Corvault range with the thermal magnetic recording methodology. The first shipment of HAMR-based drives is reported to consist of final qualification samples, but Seagate is anticipating that fully verified equipment - after trial customers give this new product lineup a thumbs-up - will be generating revenue in the coming weeks.

According to a transcript of a recent Seagate financial meeting conference call, CEO Dave Mosley mentioned a dip in business as well as a costly legal settlement, but expects company fortunes to rise due to client uptake of breakthrough storage technologies: "Beyond this cycle, we remain excited about the long-term opportunities presented by the secular growth of data and the relevance of mass capacity storage as new data-centric applications emerge and more workloads migrate to the cloud. We continue to make strong progress on our industry-leading technology road map, including launching HAMR-based products this quarter, which we believe put us in outstanding longer-term position."

Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment increased 5% from $102.6 billion in 2021 to an all-time record of $107.6 billion last year, SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, reported today. The data is now available in the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) Report.

For the third consecutive year, China remained the largest semiconductor equipment market in 2022 despite a 5% slowdown in the pace of investments in the region year over year, accounting for $28.3 billion in billings. Taiwan, the second-largest destination for equipment spending, recorded an increase of 8% to $26.8 billion, marking the fourth straight year of growth for the region. Equipment sales to Korea contracted 14% to $21.5 billion. Annual semiconductor equipment investments in Europe surged 93%, while North America logged a 38% increase. Sales to the Rest of World and Japan increased 34% and 7% year over year, respectively.

According to news agencies residing within Russian territories, it has been widely reported that Cisco has destroyed an inventory of unsold equipment with a total worth of $23.5 million. TASS, a Kremlin-controlled news organization, has made reference to account statements provided by Cisco Systems (the remaining legal entity of the Cisco Group based within the Federation) - it reports that the equipment was "physically destroyed" in January 2023, post a termination of sales in Russia and Belarus. The financial statements outline the liquidation of "primarily spare parts," but the agency claims that Cisco engaged in the destruction of network hardware, demo units and office furniture.

Cisco was one of the first tech companies to withdraw from Russian territories, following the full-scale invasion of the Ukraine. Soon after the beginning of the conflict, Cisco Systems announced the cessation of its business dealings, starting with a stoppage of sales in March 2022. A June deadline was specified for a complete shutdown of operations. The company made a decision by August 2022 to dispose of unsold inventories located within affected territories - the necessary permits for re-export of goods had not been obtained. It is not clear whether U.S. sanctions (against Russia) played a part in influencing the North American tech company's decision to engage in a scorched earth policy and obliterate the physical remnants of stock plus premises in Russia and Belarus.

The Japanese government, on Friday March 31, announced that it plans to place restrictions on its export of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. This follows similar efforts announced by other nations, including the USA and the Netherlands. In a news conference, the Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Yasutoshi Nishimura stated: "We are fulfilling our responsibility as a technological nation to contribute to international peace and stability." The press release makes no mention of a trade battle between the USA or China, but the implication is that METI is limiting the latter's access to Japan's most advanced chip making equipment.

Nishimura-san continues: "If our exports are not being re-appropriated for military use, we will continue exporting. We believe the impact on companies will be limited." The U.S. government has called on its allies to prevent China's access to semiconductor manufacturing technology in order to slowdown domestic technological and military advancement. Japan and the Netherlands have previously agreed, back in January of this year, to restrict exports to China of equipment that could be used to churn out sub-14 nm chips.