The price of high-purity tungsten hexafluoride has surged over 200% year-on-year to over 1,700 yuan ($251) per kg due to supply bottlenecks and rising demand from the semiconductor industry. Japanese producers Showa Denko Kanto and Central Glass plan production suspensions in July, potentially disrupting supply to major chipmakers like Samsung Electronics.
Chinese researchers, led by Huawei and multiple institutes, successfully conducted full-parameter post-training on a 1.6 trillion-parameter AI model using over 1,000 Huawei chips, enhancing China's AI self-reliance.
TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei stated the company is "not afraid" of competition from China, citing its manufacturing leadership. He reassured investors about TSMC's Nanjing plant and dismissed asset risks amid China's push for semiconductor self-sufficiency.
Chinese chip designer Loongson Technology has shipped more than 1 million units of its flagship desktop processor, marking a milestone for China’s efforts to build a self-sufficient semiconductor industry and move domestic central processing units (CPUs) beyond basic usability towards broader commercial adoption. The 3A6000 processor, designed for desktop computers, was built on Loongson’s self-developed LoongArch instruction set architecture, proprietary IP cores, and domestic manufacturing...
The founder of China’s largest contract chipmaker has urged the country’s semiconductor industry to pursue breakthroughs in niche markets such as mature chips, citing their importance for “supply chain security”. Richard Chang Rugin, 78, former CEO of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), cautioned against blindly chasing industry hype around cutting-edge process nodes. The industry veteran stressed the value of investing in mature nodes and specialty processes, which accounted...
Geopolitical conflict in the Middle East has disrupted Asia's semiconductor industry by cutting supplies of naphtha, a key feedstock for photoresist used in chip manufacturing. The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed since early March, curtailing naphtha supplies essential for specialty chemicals. South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are among the most exposed, with Japanese photoresist suppliers warning of looming raw material disruptions. Advanced chip nodes using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography are expected to be hit hardest.
