ELECTRONIC NEWS HIGHLIGHT W13.2025

1. The United States promotes a joint venture between Intel and TSMC to produce chips

The US government is said to be pushing Intel and TSMC to establish a joint venture to develop more semiconductor foundry projects in the United States. Sources say Intel is considering separating its semiconductor manufacturing division to cooperate with TSMC to produce advanced 3nm and 2nm chips.

As proposal, US officials have requested that Intel’s current and upcoming 3nm and 2nm manufacturing plants in the United States be included in the joint venture. TSMC will provide essential semiconductor engineering technology and expertise to ensure a stable chip supply to the United States, supported by federal subsidies under the CHIPS Act.

Industry experts say the partnership could provide Intel with a significant cash infusion, allowing the company to focus more on design and platform solutions while providing reliable manufacturing alternatives for factory-less companies looking for geographically secure options.

Learn more: U.S. pushes for Intel and TSMC joint venture for chip foundries

2. Global silicon wafer market will bottom out in 2024, expected to recover strongly in the second half of 2025

SEMI’s latest annual report indicates that global silicon wafer shipments will decline 2.7% year-over-year to 12.266 billion inches (MSI) in 2024, with sales falling 6.5% to $11.5 billion. Although the market has recovered since the second half of 2023, weak demand in some segments and slow inventory adjustments have slowed the recovery.

SEMI noted that sluggish demand in high-capacity markets has led to lower factory utilization rates and put pressure on wafer shipments for specific applications, slowing inventory clearance. The recovery is expected to continue through 2025, with stronger growth expected in the second half of the year.

SEMI SMG President and Vice President and Auditor General of GlobalWafers Li Chongwei said: “AI-generating and building next-generation data centers is driving demand for advanced wafer fabs and memory products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), but most end markets are still dealing with excess inventory. As stated in multiple company earnings reports, the industrial semiconductor sector is still in the midst of an inventory adjustment, putting pressure on global wafer shipments.”

Learn more: SEMI: Global silicon wafer market to bottom out in 2024, strong recovery expected in H2 2025

3. Micron will begin mass production of 12-layer HBM for Nvidia

Micron has completed development of the 12-layer HBM and introduced samples to customers, including Nvidia. During a February event hosted by Wolfe Research, Micron CFO Mark Murphy highlighted the advantages of the new product, claiming that it reduces power consumption by 20% and increases capacity by 50% compared to competitors’ 8-layer products. Murphy also predicts that the majority of Micron’s HBM production in the second half of the year will be concentrated in 12 layers.

The importance of HBM technology lies in its ability to vertically stack DRAM chips, which increases data processing speed and bandwidth—key to high-performance computing, especially in AI applications that use GPUs. With growing demand for such advanced memory solutions, securing supply contracts with Nvidia is becoming increasingly important for memory manufacturers.

While Micron is preparing to lead the market with its 12-layer HBM, Samsung Electronics finds itself lagging behind. The company has only entered the small-scale production phase for 8-layer products and has not yet completed testing for 12-layer products. Samsung plans to send a 12-layer HBM sample to Nvidia later this February, although final delivery will depend on approval. This delay could affect Samsung’s competitive position, as technological leadership in the market often translates into increased market share and revenue.

Meanwhile, SK Hynix, another key semiconductor company, is accelerating development of HBM4 to meet Nvidia’s requirements, with completion planned for this year. Samsung is also targeting mass production of HBM4 by the end of the year, using 10nm type sixth generation (1c) DRAM.