Let’s take them in reverse order…
5. NXP and Vanguard to build fab in Singapore
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp, the Taiwan foundry, and NXP are to create a manufacturing jv called VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Pte Ltd (“VSMC”) which will build a new 300mm semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility in Singapore. The fab will support 130nm to 40nm mixed-signal, power management and analog products, targeting the automotive, industrial, consumer and mobile end markets. The underlying process technologies are planned to be licensed and transferred to the joint venture from TSMC.
4. Rapidus and IBM hook up on chiplet packaging
Rapidus, the Japanese startup developing a 2nm manufacturing process, and IBM are to establish mass production technologies for chiplet packaging. Rapidus will receive packaging technology from IBM for high-performance semiconductors, and the two companies aim to work together on further innovation. “We will make the most of this international collaboration and pursue initiatives that will allow Japan to play an even more important role in the semiconductor packaging supply chain,” says Rapidus CEO Atsuyoshi Koike.
3. US government sets up semiconductor digital twin initiative
The US government has issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) seeking proposals from eligible applicants for activities to establish and operate a CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute focused on digital twins for the semiconductor industry – virtual models that mimic the structure, context, and behaviour of a physical counterpart. The CHIPS for America Program anticipates spending up to approximately $285 million for a first-of-its kind institute focused on the development, validation, and use of digital twins for semiconductor manufacturing…
2. Arm looking for 50% of Windows PC market
Arm CEO Renee Haas has told Reuters that Arm could have a 50% share of the Windows PC market by 2029. “Arm’s market share in Windows – I think, truly, in the next five years, it could be better than 50%,” said Haas. At the moment Arm has an 11% share of the Windows PC market according to Counterpoint Research. However Microsoft is said to be investing heavily in tools to enable transitions from x86 to Arm. Qualcomm is making an Arm-based chip which is suitable for PCs and Nvidia has hinted that it may do the same.
1. Intel sells 49% of Irish Fab 34 to Apollo
Intel has sold 49% of its Fab 34 in Leixlip, Ireland for $11 billion to private equity fund Apollo. It is Intel’s second Semiconductor Co-Investment Program (SCIP) arrangement. SCIP is an element of Intel’s Smart Capital strategy. The first SCIP deal was in 2022 with Brookfield taking a 49% stake in a manufacturing expansion at Intel’s Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona. Fab 34 is Intel’s leading-edge high-volume manufacturing (HVM) facility designed for wafers using the Intel 4 and Intel 3 process technologies.
