semiconductor

JPMorgan analysts stated that the recent pullback in global AI trading has improved investors' positions, making valuations more attractive, which may drive investors to reposition, especially in the semiconductor stock sector. JPMorgan pointed out that sustained strong earnings performance and evidence of AI commercialization will support investors' renewed focus on this sector.

According to a report by South Korea's Small and Medium Business News on September 28, industry insiders stated that SK Hynix has initiated the foundational engineering required for establishing a semiconductor factory in the Tohoku region of Japan. One insider mentioned that it is still unclear whether the project will be an independent factory or a joint venture with Kioxia, but local groundwork is underway, and SK Hynix has also requested domestic component suppliers in South Korea to expand their supply.The report noted that as of a month ago, SK Hynix's stance on building a memory semiconductor factory in Japan was still "under research," and they stated that "there are no specific decisions." In response to this news, SK Hynix indicated that the Japanese memory semiconductor factory is still in the research phase, with no further advancements at this time.The report also mentioned that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stated in August this year that they are studying the establishment of a joint venture memory semiconductor factory in Japan, with the Tohoku region subsequently seen as a strong candidate. The Tohoku region of Japan and Iwate Prefecture have gathered semiconductor and material component companies such as Kioxia's Kitakami factory, Japan Semiconductor, Ancor Technology, Denso, and Tokyo Electron.

According to BBX data, last weekend, publicly listed companies in the U.S. and European stock markets disclosed the latest developments in digital asset allocation and treasury strategy adjustments. The core information is as follows:Morgan Stanley's ETF increased its holdings by nearly 43 Bitcoin, with a total holding value of $779 million: On-chain tracking data shows that Wall Street investment banking giant Morgan Stanley withdrew 42.979 Bitcoin from its subsidiary's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund MSBT on Saturday, extracting from the Coinbase Prime hot wallet address, valued at approximately $3.6 million based on the price at the time of withdrawal. Following this increase, Morgan Stanley's total Bitcoin holdings have now reached 9,261 BTC, with a total holding value of about $779 million.French semiconductor listed company Sequans liquidated 314 BTC, completely exiting its Bitcoin reserve strategy: French well-known semiconductor and IoT chip design listed company Sequans Communications disclosed that it has fully sold the 314 Bitcoin held on its balance sheet. This liquidation marks the company's official termination and complete exit from the previously established Bitcoin corporate treasury reserve strategy, and in the future, it will refocus its funds and liquidity on its core semiconductor business.

French semiconductor company Sequans Communications has sold its last 314 bitcoins, completing its exit from the bitcoin reserve strategy, having previously held over 3,200 BTC. Sequans stated that this exit was conducted after the redemption of convertible bonds completed in May, allowing it to refocus on its core cellular IoT and software-defined radio business.Sequans CEO Georges Karam stated that the company used the proceeds from the bitcoin sales to pay off convertible bonds and strengthen its balance sheet. Currently, Sequans holds no cryptocurrency and has no outstanding debts other than government-funded R&D obligations. Sequans launched its bitcoin reserve strategy in June 2025, announcing a $384 million equity security and convertible secured bond issuance, with Karam at the time calling bitcoin a primary asset and an attractive long-term investment.The company began to reduce its holdings less than six months later, selling 970 BTC in November to redeem half of the convertible bonds. By May 2026, Sequans indicated that it would no longer pursue the reserve strategy and would gradually liquidate the remaining bitcoins. During the 2026 crypto bear market, an increasing number of digital asset reserve companies abandoned or scaled back their accumulation strategies. VanEck's head of digital asset research, Matthew Sigel, noted at the end of July that at least nine companies had completely liquidated or abandoned their bitcoin and cryptocurrency reserve strategies in 2026.

Frank Heemskerk, Executive Vice President of the Dutch lithography machine company ASML, stated that the company currently does not sell any chip manufacturing equipment on the European continent. He said, "We are not selling anything in Europe at all. This is because there has been no investment in Europe, and there are no new chip factories being built here."Data shows that in the second quarter of this year, Europe's contribution to ASML's net system sales was zero, and by 2025, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will account for 1%. In the first half of the year, South Korea was the company's largest market for equipment. Heemskerk stated that other countries are rolling out the red carpet to invite investment in factory construction, and currently about a quarter of ASML's R&D work is conducted in the United States.The European Union is reforming the "Chip Act," which will take effect in 2023. In May of this year, ASML signed an agreement with Tata Electronics of India to assist India in building semiconductor factories.

Gate gStocks has shown active performance on the gainers list, with semiconductor and technology-related assets leading the rise. According to the latest market data from Gate, Intel's 2x long ETF (INTWG/USDT) has risen 15.73% in 24 hours, currently priced at $32.81; Arm Technology (ARMG/USDT) has seen a 14.03% increase in 24 hours, currently priced at $323.73; the 3x long semiconductor ETF (SOXLG/USDT) has risen 12.96% in 24 hours, currently priced at $143.48.Gate gStocks adopts a 1:1 fully-backed native stock reserve mechanism, where each tokenized security corresponds to an equal amount of native stock as underlying asset support. It supports 24/7 trading, unified account management, and a minimum investment of 1 USDT, along with fractional share trading. Users can participate more flexibly in global popular stock investments, achieving a one-stop allocation of digital assets and traditional securities. As the tokenized securities ecosystem continues to enrich, Gate gStocks will keep expanding more quality stocks and ETF assets, providing users with a more diverse range of global asset allocation options.

UBS strategists pointed out that Meta's new consumer-facing AI entity, Muse, is very popular, indicating that the demand for products in the AI supply chain will increase. The strategists stated that the competition in the AI product sector is fierce, which will drive the demand for computing power and AI infrastructure, benefiting leading companies in the semiconductor and hardware industries.

According to an exclusive report from Late Auto, the chip subsidiary of Li Auto is advancing its first round of external financing, with a pre-investment valuation of approximately 15 billion yuan, planning to raise several billion yuan. Business registration information shows that Mach Intelligent Cores Limited was established in Hong Kong on July 14, and on August 4, it fully established Shanghai Mach Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., with Li Auto's CTO Xie Yan serving as the legal representative; a few days later, it also fully established Shanghai Mach Heart Technology Co., Ltd., with the legal representative being Li Auto's co-secretary Wang Yang.Li Auto's self-developed chip team consists of about 200 people, mainly engaged in AI computing architecture, chip design, and related software development, while advancing two types of self-developed chip projects for vehicles and the cloud. Its first self-developed chip, Mach M100, has entered mass production and is equipped in several new or updated models launched this year; another cloud inference chip is under development, also using a data flow architecture. In the first half of this year, financing in the domestic semiconductor sector amounted to approximately 162.7 billion yuan, with AI computing being one of the key areas for funding. For reference, NIO's chip subsidiary Anhui Shenji completed its first round of financing of 2.257 billion yuan in February this year, with a post-investment valuation of nearly 10 billion yuan.

According to Gate market data, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose by 4%. Nvidia increased by 2.3%, Qualcomm rose by 8%, ASML went up by 2.05%, and Intel surged by 11.9%.

TSMC's 2-nanometer N2 mass production marks the transition of advanced semiconductor processes from FinFET to GAA generation. Industry analysts point out that with the simultaneous increase in process complexity, CMP track counts, wafer monitoring frequency, and material specifications, the demand for equipment, CMP consumables, reclaimed wafers, and advanced materials is rising, providing growth opportunities for suppliers like Zhongsha, Shengyang Semiconductor, Xinying Materials, and Songsheng. TSMC's N2 adopts nanosheet GAA technology, which can improve performance by 10% to 15% at the same power consumption compared to N3E, or reduce power consumption by 25% to 30% at the same speed, with chip density increasing by over 15%.In Zhongsha's largest customer Diamond Disk business, advanced processes account for 63%, with N3 and N2 each accounting for 22%, and 1.4 nanometers already shipped in small quantities; after N3 enters N2, the value of CMP content increases by 10% to 15%. Shengyang Semiconductor's monthly production capacity for reclaimed wafers is adjusted to 1.1 to 1.2 million pieces by the end of 2026, with a capital expenditure budget of 4.82 billion yuan for 2026, and it is estimated that the compound annual growth rate for reclaimed wafer expansion from 2025 to 2029 will reach 25% to 30%. Xinying Materials' core products Rinse, BARC, and EBR are expected to see shipments rise seasonally as N2 capacity ramps up, while Songsheng's semiconductor revenue accounted for 66% in the first half of the year, with a year-on-year increase of about 25%, and TSMC-related revenue increased by about 170% year-on-year.

A survey conducted by Bank of America (BofA) from September 4 to 10 showed that 53% of global fund managers consider "going long on global semiconductors" to be the most crowded trade, marking the fourth consecutive month this trade has held the top position.Despite this, 33% of respondents believe that the related companies are over-invested, the highest recorded proportion to date. "Shorting government bonds" has risen to second place for the first time, with 18% of respondents listing it as the most crowded trade. Only 7% of respondents believe that "going long on the Magnificent 7" is the most crowded.Previously, this trade had been in the top position for 23 consecutive months from 2023 to 2025, peaking at around 70% in June 2024. Semiconductor stocks continue to attract investor attention.

According to Bloomberg, within months of launching its new semiconductor industry policy, India has secured approximately $12 billion in investment commitments from global and domestic companies, involving supply chain enterprises related to chip equipment, materials, and chemicals.This interest stems from India's announcement in July of an additional $13.4 billion semiconductor fund, which complements a previous $10 billion subsidy program to support companies, including Tata Group and Micron, in establishing wafer fabs and assembly and testing facilities locally. India's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, stated that the related investments will materialize in the next 2 to 3 years, with some projects already in production and capacity largely locked in. Tata Electronics also signed multiple cooperation agreements with Nexperia, Fujifilm, and others at the conference, covering wafer manufacturing, assembly and testing, and localization of key materials.

According to Electronic News on September 15, China's largest NAND flash memory manufacturer Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) has begun the connection work for production equipment at its third factory (FAB3) in Wuhan, with initial production expected to gradually become visible by the end of the year.China Electronics System Engineering Second Construction Co., Ltd. recently selected a construction company for the "Gas Segment 3" of the "Wuhan YMTC FAB3 Secondary Piping Segment B General Contracting Project." This project will connect the factory's existing gas, water, and other utility supply networks to various production equipment. The bidding conditions require experience in construction projects related to YMTC or Changxin Memory Technologies, or equivalent scale 12-inch semiconductor factories.YMTC's Wuhan Factory 3 is expected to begin initial production by the end of this year, with a capacity of approximately 100,000 12-inch wafers per month when fully operational. According to Counterpoint Research, YMTC's global NAND bit shipment share in the second quarter of this year reached 14%, rising to third in the world, with Samsung Electronics at 25% in first place and SK Hynix at 22% in second.

According to Gate market data, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index opened down 5.5%.

According to South Korea's "JoongAng Ilbo," China's semiconductor industry is organized through collaboration among the central government, local governments, state-owned financial institutions, and enterprises, forming a system for fundraising, factory construction, and infrastructure support. The China National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund has a first phase of 138.7 billion RMB, a second phase of 204 billion RMB, and a third phase of 344 billion RMB, totaling 686.7 billion RMB, with investments in companies such as SMIC, Hua Hong Semiconductor, and Yangtze Memory Technologies.Changxin Memory, established for 10 years, has risen to fourth in global DRAM market share, with a net loss of 21.13 billion RMB over the past three years, while R&D and equipment investments during the same period reached 185.2 billion RMB, with Hefei's state-owned capital providing about 80% of the funding for early projects. South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are responsible for investments, employment, technology development, and support for partners. The South Korean government plans to guide 622 trillion KRW in private investment by 2047 and provide 17 trillion KRW in low-interest loans and 1.1 trillion KRW in semiconductor ecosystem funds, but most of the burden will fall on enterprises.Park Kyung-soo, Executive Vice President of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association: The semiconductor industry will fall behind in the next upturn if investment stops; even during downturns, R&D, equipment investment, and orders for materials and components must be maintained, requiring long-term policy, financial, and tax support. China is catching up with a national-level support system, and South Korea also needs a response system involving the government, political circles, financial institutions, and enterprises to act together.

According to The Bell, Samsung Electronics' foundry division has delayed its contract for application processor foundry production with Qualcomm due to differences in production unit prices, and both parties have failed to narrow the price gap, prolonging negotiations. There have been no significant technical issues, and the currently discussed 2-nanometer process has received a considerable degree of stabilization evaluation.Industry sources indicate that the Qualcomm AP foundry using Samsung's 2-nanometer process may be postponed until next year, and it is unclear whether production can commence within this year. Qualcomm had previously entrusted advanced AP production to Samsung before 2021, and Samsung has been continuously striving to regain this business in recent years, having secured clients such as Tesla and Broadcom.Informed sources state that the contract delay has made it difficult for Samsung to produce APs for Qualcomm this year, and both parties may turn to discuss the next generation of products. After acquiring strategic clients, Samsung is no longer willing to accept low-price orders as it did in the past.

On September 10, Kim Sang-hoon, the head of the packaging division at Samsung Electro-Mechanics, delivered a speech at the KPCA Show International Seminar INSIGHT 2026 held at the Incheon Songdo Conference Center, proposing a multilayer core (MLC) technology direction to address the large-scale and high-multilayer challenges of AI semiconductor packaging substrates.Kim Sang-hoon stated that in the past, the single-layer core (SLC) method, which increased the thickness of a single CCL, led to increased difficulty in processing internal vias and circuits as the core thickened, and the size of the vias became limited. The MLC approach shifts to a combination of CCL and PPG multilayers, or even a mixed structure of two CCLs, which can simultaneously enhance rigidity and wiring freedom, while also allowing for ground or signal wiring to be arranged in the PPG layer. A bonding layer added between the two CCLs can provide more stable support for the substrate, but the process is more complex.Currently, the commonly used bump pitch in mass production is above 90μm, with around 85μm being the turning point for printed fine solder ball processes. The difficulty significantly increases around 80μm, and the 55-45μm range may shift towards metal bumps. Glass cores are another option, offering higher rigidity and lower thermal expansion coefficients, which help reduce warping in large packages, but issues related to fragility and micro-hole plating technology need to be addressed. The substrate must meet signal integrity, power integrity, and mechanical integrity requirements simultaneously, with high-performance packaging substrate layers expected to evolve from about 20 layers at the 90mm level to 120mm and even more than 40 layers.

The Central Science Management Bureau confirmed on the 9th that TSMC's Central Science Phase II 1.4 nanometer factory expansion is fully accelerating. The first P1 factory has completed its steel structure and is expected to begin trial production in April next year, with mass production anticipated in the second half of next year, ahead of the originally scheduled mass production in 2028. TSMC has applied to the Central Science Management Bureau to set up two temporary offices at the site, which are expected to be completed in April next year, with the first batch of over 5,400 operational and outsourced personnel moving in.The advanced process new factory for TSMC's Central Science Phase II park broke ground last October, planning to build four 1.4 nanometer factories, with nearly 2,000 workers working day and night. The P1 factory is currently undergoing floor and exterior wall construction, with the factory building expected to be completed early next year. The P2 factory has begun basic construction and is scheduled to be completed in October next year, with both factories expected to start mass production successively next year. The P3 factory has obtained a construction permit, while the P4 factory is in the process of applying for a construction permit, planning to be built with a six-month gap. P3 is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2028, and P4 is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of the same year. After the P2 factory is completed in the second half of next year, an additional 1,000 operational personnel will be added, with the total number of employees expected to be between 9,000 and 10,000 when all four new factories in Phase II are completed and put into production.

According to DIGITIMES, the IC design and semiconductor industry generally believes that the duration of the current tight supply and demand for mature process chips will be longer. Most industry opinions suggest that the industry will need to actively compete for capacity at least until 2028, and price increases may become the norm in the industry. Some even believe that by 2030, the supply and demand relationship for mature process chips may not be able to stabilize.Industry insiders in IC design admit that the overall market situation for end products is not particularly hot; it is just that the demand related to cloud AI is excessively large and continues to expand.