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| SK hynix Turns to Intel’s EMIB Packaging as TSMC CoWoS Bottlenecks Squeeze the AI Supply Chain |
5/12/2026 |
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As the race for the AI buildout continues to intensify, a shortage in the packaging industry has led memory manufacturer SK hynix to team up with Intel for chip packaging technology. After a strong comeback under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Intel is now aiming to expand its presence in the packaging industry. The firm and SK hynix are collaborating on 2.5D packaging technology and Intel's Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) technology as shortages create tightness in the current packaging supply chain.
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| TSMC, Sony partner on image sensor development |
5/12/2026 |
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Sony have signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding to form a partnership for next-generation image sensor development and manufacturing. The companies plan to establish a joint venture, with Sony as the majority shareholder, at Sony's new fab in Kumamoto, Japan.
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| Memory capacity issue at SK Hynix has customers scrambling |
5/11/2026 |
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Major tech companies are reportedly offering to invest in SK Hynix's chip production lines and purchase ASML's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines amid a severe memory shortage driven by AI demand. The proposals, which include funding dedicated memory production lines, are unprecedented in the memory industry.
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| La Luce Cristallina begins 200mm BaTiO3 wafer production |
5/5/2026 |
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La Luce Cristallina has begun producing 200-millimeter barium titanate wafers at a new facility in Austin, Texas, becoming the second US manufacturer of such wafers. Barium titanate is gaining interest for modulators and photonic ICs due to its efficiency and performance, with applications in telecommunications, AI data centers and quantum computing
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| Qualcomm debuts custom silicon for AI, agentic phones |
5/4/2026 |
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Qualcomm has announced plans for custom silicon, including a dedicated central processing unit for "agentic experiences" and "agentic smartphones." The company will supply custom products to "a leading hyperscaler," with shipments expected in the December quarter, and expects to win 70% of Samsung's system-on-chip business this year and next.
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| Apple chooses TSMC's packaging for A20 chip |
5/1/2026 |
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Apple will reportedly not use WMCM packaging for its A20 chip in the base iPhone 18 due to DRAM shortages and cost concerns, opting instead for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s Integrated Fan-Out packaging. However, Apple plans to use WMCM for the A20 Pro in the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.
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| Samsung Q1 chip profit hits $36bn on sales of $94bn |
5/1/2026 |
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Samsung Electronics has reported a first-quarter semiconductor profit of $36 billion, up 49 times year over year, on $94 billion in revenue, driven by high-bandwidth memory demand and data center expansion. The company has initiated mass production of HBM4 and SOCAMM2 for Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform and developed PCIe Gen6 solid-state drive
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| AI memory needs to surge 1,000x |
5/1/2026 |
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Professor Kim Jung-ho of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology projects a 1,000-fold increase in memory capacity requirements driven by AI inference over the next 30 years.
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