According to Money DJ, citing the latest data from Japanese gaming media Famitsu, overall console sales in Japan (including Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S) dropped 19% to 79,962 units during the week of September 2-8, compared to the previous week (August 26-September 1), driven by a sharp decline in PS5 sales.

Famitsu reports that sales of Nintendo’s Switch series (standard Switch, Switch Lite, and OLED Switch) rose 6% week-over-week to 67,473 units. The standard Switch saw a 14% drop to 5,723 units, while Switch Lite sales jumped 12% to 15,271 units, and OLED Switch sales increased 7% to 46,479 units.

Sony’s PS5 series (standard disc version and digital edition) saw Japanese sales plunge nearly 70% during the same week, hitting a new low for 2024. Total PS5 sales slumped 67% to 11,007 units. The standard PS5 dropped 66% to 9,097 units, and the digital edition saw a 73% decline to 1,910 units.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S sales in Japan surged 90% week-over-week to 1,482 units, with Xbox Series X sales jumping 87% to 759 units and Xbox Series S up 94% to 723 units.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), Sony’s gaming subsidiary, announced on August 27 that it would raise PS5 prices in Japan starting September 2. The standard PS5 price was hiked 19% (an increase of ¥13,000) to ¥79,980, while the digital edition saw a 21% increase (also ¥13,000) to ¥72,980.

Meanwhile, rumors of a new Nintendo console have been making the rounds. According to Notebookcheck, leaked details regarding the price and launch date of the anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 have surfaced, fueling speculation that Nintendo could be gearing up for another blockbuster release.

(Photo credit: Sony)

In 2024, the semiconductor industry has gradually emerged from its downturn and entered a phase of gradual recovery.

Observing the market situation, as downstream demand increases, a number of domestic semiconductor industry projects are accelerating.

Recently, more than 30 semiconductor-related projects have entered the stages of signing contracts, construction, topping-out, and production etc.

These projects span areas such as EDA, AI, advanced packaging, materials, equipment, third-generation semiconductors, chip design, CMOS sensors, and memory, involving companies like Huahong, Semitronix, YASC, Skyverse, Hoshine, Smartsens, Sanan Semiconductor, and CFMEE etc.

Conclusion

The industry has revealed that from this year’s market situation, the revenue of companies in the middle and upper reaches of the integrated circuit industry has generally improved, AI has become an important driving force for revenue growth, and the demand for acceleration chips such as GPU/HBM has increased. Some sub-sectors such as advanced packaging and equipment/materials related to the industrial chain have also benefited.

At the same time, as new energy vehicles drive the popularity of third-generation semiconductor materials, power devices such as silicon carbide are in high demand.

According to TrendForce, SiC is still showing an accelerated penetration trend in application markets such as automobiles and renewable energy where power density and efficiency are extremelyimportant.

The overall market demand will maintain a growth trend in the next few years, and it is estimated that the global SiC Power Device market size is expected to reach US$9.17 billion in 2028.

(Photo credit: Huahong)

Faced with the dual challenges of an aging population and a sluggish economy, China has decided to undertake a significant reform, announcing the first increase in the retirement age since the 1950s. The new policy raises the retirement age for men to 63, while for women, it will be adjusted to between 55 and 58, depending on the nature of their work. Experts suggest that the rapid pace of China’s aging population makes delaying retirement an unavoidable choice.

Currently, the retirement age for blue-collar male workers in China is set at 60, while for female workers it is 50. Female white-collar workers retire at 55. These retirement ages were established in the 1950s when the average life expectancy was around 40 years. In addition to raising the retirement age, the period for contributing to the pension fund will also be extended—from 15 years to 20 years starting in 2030.

China’s population is aging rapidly. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences warned this year that the public pension system, which is the main source of income for most elderly people in China, will run out of funds by 2035.

Continuous Population Decline

The reason for the dwindling population is that China’s low birth rate is advancing faster than that of other countries. In 2022, China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that, for the first time, the year-end population decreased by 850,000 compared to the previous year, marking a turning point from population growth to decline. In 2023, the population further decreased by 2 million, marking the second consecutive year of decline.

Read more at Datatrack

In 2022, China’s total fertility rate dropped to 1.05 children per woman, down from 1.5 in 2019. The working-age population in China is expected to decline from 976 million this year to 938 million by 2030. With various government policies aimed at boosting the birth rate proving ineffective, there is an urgent need to adapt to an aging society with a lower fertility rate.

Read more at Datatrack

Rapid Formation of an Aging Society

Reports indicate that last year, China surpassed the United Nations’ threshold for an “aging society,” with at least 14% of its population aged 65 and above. By around 2035, the proportion of people aged 65 and over is expected to increase to 30%.

At this rate, China could move from an aging stage to a super-aged stage in just nine years—a pace faster than any major country except South Korea. Japan took 11 years to make the same transition, Germany took 34 years, and the United States is expected to make this transition in 14 years.

Meanwhile, China’s fiscal situation has been deteriorating. Due to weak domestic demand and low business confidence, China’s fiscal revenue fell by 2.8% year-on-year in the first half of this year. Local governments have struggled to cope with a fiscal crisis as their revenue from land sales has dried up. Internal analysis in China suggests that delaying the retirement age to 65 by 2035 could reduce the pension budget deficit by 20%.

The Chinese government began discussing delaying retirement as early as 2008 but has been hesitant to take action due to concerns about political backlash. Now, with youth unemployment already high and the economy sluggish, the announcement of a retirement delay is bound to bring additional social pressure. Political commentators see this as a necessary course adjustment, arguing that faced with the worsening demographic challenge, the Chinese government has no other choice.

(Photo credit: Flickr/Thomas Berg CC By2.0)

Samsung’s foundry business has been facing difficulties with its advanced chip processes, particularly with its 3-nanometer production. According to a report from The Korea Times, the yield for Samsung’s 3nm process remained in the single digits until Q1 this year, causing delays in supplying engineering samples for its Exynos 2500 chipsets.

The same report notes that local analysts estimate Samsung’s yield for its 3-nanometer process improved to about 20% in the second quarter. Despite this progress, the yield rate is still significantly below the 60% threshold generally needed for mass production, creating challenges for the company in securing foundry orders.

Reflecting this situation, Samsung appears to have shifted its strategy for its newest facility, the P4 fab in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Instead of initially installing equipment for NAND and then moving to foundry products, Samsung is now prioritizing advanced DRAM memory production, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. Industry sources cited by The Korea Times suggest that this shift comes as a result of weak demand for its foundry services. There is growing speculation that Samsung might even dedicate the P4 fab entirely to memory chip production, driven by the steady demand for HBM and other advanced memory types used in AI servers.

These developments also cast uncertainty on Samsung’s investment in its Taylor, Texas plant. The company had originally planned to begin mass production of 4-nanometer chips there next year, but this has now been pushed back to 2026. Although the yield for the 4nm process is reportedly stable, Samsung continues to face challenges in securing orders from fabless companies.

This situation has led to speculation that Samsung may pivot to focusing on more advanced 2-nanometer chips instead of 4-nanometer ones to attract orders for next-generation products. However, reports indicate that the company is also struggling to achieve high yields for both its 2nm and 3nm processes.

Low yields have been a key factor behind Samsung’s ongoing struggles in its foundry business, according to industry insiders cited by The Korea Times. While the company has managed to stabilize yields for its 4nm process, more advanced nodes like the second-generation 3nm and 2nm processes remain problematic.

Adding to the challenges, a report from Business Korea on September 11th highlighted that continued yield issues with the 2nm process have prompted Samsung to withdraw personnel from its Taylor, Texas plant, marking another setback for its advanced wafer foundry ambitions.

Read more

• [News] Samsung’s 2nm Yield Rate at Most 20%, Withdraws Personnel from Texas Taylor Plant

(Photo credit: Samsung)

Ahead of AMD’s October launch of Instinct MI325X, the U.S. chip giant is said to have several issues with its laptop OEMs, which results in poor execution, a report by Tom’s Hardware notes. Citing remarks from analysts, the report describes the two parties’ relation now as a “Cold War ice age,” hurting their mutual trust.

The report, citing AC Analysis, says that the main contradiction arises from AMD’s current strategy of prioritizing enterprise chips over consumer products, with laptop OEMs complaining about the “miscommunication, unfulfilled promises, and generally poor treatment.” The situation, according to them, is similar to Intel’s behavior during its peak years.

It is interesting to note that the situation seems to coincide with AMD CEO Lisa Su’s recent exclamation that AMD is a “data center-first company,” as data center contributed to over 50% of the company’s revenue last quarter.

Another report by German media outlet ComputerBase also reports that AMD is still suffering from the same challenges it has had in the past. For instance, problems with supply and related issues have delayed the release of new Strix Point laptops. According to ComputerBase, one source even accused AMD of probably leaving billions of US dollars on the table with its partners over the years.

Tom’s Hardware observes that due to the aforementioned reasons, the reaction of AMD’s Strix Point chips among OEMs has been somewhat tepid, despite consumer interest.

The report notes that currently, BestBuy offers only three brands with AMD’s latest chips—Asus, HP, and MSI. HP and MSI each have one model, while Asus has 13 models featuring the AMD Ryzen AI 300 series chip.

This is in sharp contrast with Qualcomm, the report notes. Even the company is a latecomer in the laptop market, the smartphone chip giant’s launch of the Snapdragon X processor generated significant excitement among both the public and laptop manufacturers, as seven brands have already released 12 different models featuring the new Arm chip.

AMD is also lagging behind its rival Intel, which still dominates the laptop market despite its recent slump. According to Intel, its Lunar Lake, manufactured with TSMC’s 3nm, is expected to power more than 80 new laptop designs across more than 20 original equipment manufacturers, delivering AI performance at a global scale for Copilot+ PCs.

Read more

• [News] AMD MI325X Reported to Debut in October, Claiming AI Supercycle Has Just Started
• [News] AMD Could Emerge as a Prospective Buyer for Intel’s Potential Sale of Altera

(Photo credit: AMD)