TrendForce has released the latest panel quotations for early May. TV panel prices showed signs of stabilization as increased supply capacity mitigates the upward trend. Meanwhile, monitor (MNT) panel prices maintain their upward trajectory, driven by the market’s robust demand. However, challenges persist in forming a consensus for price increases in the notebook (NB) panel sector, resulting in relatively lower price level.

More details are as follows:

• TV

After May, the momentum of stocking up on television panels starts to weaken, particularly in the medium-sized and small-sized television panels due to decreased demand. As a result, the momentum for overall panel price increases tend to gradually slow down.

Whether panel manufacturers will once again initiate their strategy of producing on-demand over the next two months, thereby correcting the high-end utilization rate of over 80% to support the trend in panel prices, will be a key point for observation in the near term.

Looking at the price increases of television panels in May, it is expected that the prices for 32-inch, 43-inch, and 50-inch will stabilize, while 55-inch panels will increase by 1 USD and 65-inch and 75-inch will increase by 3 USD.

• MNT

With regard to MNT panels, demand from brands remains robust. On the other hand, panel manufacturers’ urgent desire to boost panel prices as much as possible during this wave of price increases, driven by aim to achieve a turnaround in the deficit situation for MNT panels, also helps on the relatively proactive stance towards the panel price trend in May.

Currently, it is expected that in May, the prices of MNT panels will increase. Open Cell panels are expected to rise by 0.5 to 0.7 USD. Among panel modules, the 21.5-inch is expected to increase by 0.5 USD, the 23.8-inch by 0.6 USD, and the 27-inch panel by 0.5 USD.

• NB

Looking at NB panels, although demand for panels has started to pick up noticeably compared to the first quarter, rebounding from the seasonal downturn, the increase is still lower than initially expected. This reflects the high uncertainty among brand customers regarding future end-demand, making it difficult for clear signals of panel price increases to emerge.

Panel manufacturers also find it challenging to establish a strong and consistent consensus on panel pricing strategy due to the lower-than-expected growth in demand.

It is currently expected that in May, the prices of NB panels will see only a slight increase. For HD TN models, where supply is limited and demand is relatively good, coupled with lower prices, there is a chance of a marginal increase of 0.1 USD.

For FHD IPS models, where there are more suppliers and fiercer competition, some panel manufacturers hope to follow the price increase of HD TN models and raise prices by 0.1 USD as well. However, this still depends on the attitude of brand customers.

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According to a report from Economic Daily News citing The Wallstreet Journal, Apple is rumored to be developing its own AI chips tailored for data centers, which could potentially give the world’s top smartphone seller a crucial advantage in the AI arms race. The report, quoting sources familiar with the matter, stated that Apple has been working closely with its chip manufacturing partner TSMC to design and produce these chips in the primary stage. However, it is still unclear whether the final version has been produced yet.

It is suggested that Apple’s server chips may focus on executing AI models, particularly in AI inference, rather than AI training, where Nvidia’s chips currently dominate.

Over the past decade, Apple has gradually become a major player in chip design for products like iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. The latest project involving Apple chips for data center servers, internally named “Project ACDC” (short for Apple Chips in Data Center), will integrate Apple’s IC design capabilities into the operation of clients’ servers, sources said.

The project has been in operation for several years, though the timetable for launching this server chip remains unclear. Apple is expected to unveil more new AI products and AI-related updates at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on the reported developments.

According to reports from Wccftech on April 23rd, Apple is said to be working on a self-developed AI server processor using TSMC’s 3-nanometer process, with plans for mass production expected in the second half of 2025.

Wafer foundries’ mature process continues to suffer from oversupply, facing further price reduction pressure. According to a report from Economic Daily News, industry sources from IC design companies revealed that in this quarter, prices for certain mature processes have dropped by single-digit percentages (1% to 3%). Given the current situation, prices in the third quarter may drop by another 1% to 3%, leading to a continuous correction in overall price trends starting from the third quarter of 2022, marking the ninth consecutive quarterly decline.

Industry sources cited by the same report pointed out that this wave of price reductions in mature process was triggered by Chinese foundries two to three years ago, with Taiwanese manufacturers subsequently following suit. Major Taiwanese foundries involved in mature processes, include UMC, Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS), and PSMC, have all been closely monitoring the latest market changes.

Regarding rumors of further price cuts in the market, UMC stated that the company would not make further comments. VIS, on the other hand, mentioned during a recent earnings call that the price pressure from Chinese foundries has affected its operations, but the company will not engage in these price-cutting competitions. It is expected that as market inventory adjustments approach completion, prices should gradually stabilize without significant fluctuations. PSMC indicated that they have not particularly felt any price pressure.

Local foundries stated that even though customers from specific applications, including driver ICs and other IC design houses, turn to Chinese foundries in order to enjoy cheaper manufacturing prices, they will not engage in price-cutting. After all, price wars may never see an end. Instead, Taiwanese foundries will continue to increase orders from other applications to gradually boost capacity utilization rates.

In the third quarter of 2022, as market conditions reversed, Chinese foundries initiated price cuts, prompting some Taiwanese manufacturers to make slight concessions in pricing. The pricing gap between Chinese and Taiwanese foundries generally remained at double-digit percentages.

To cope with a period of market inventory adjustment, some foundries are more flexible in negotiations, while others hope for customers to “exchange volume for price.”

Overall, foundry pricing has experienced eight consecutive declines up to this quarter. However, with no significant recovery in most end-demand sectors, IC design companies assess that foundry pricing in the third quarter may continue to trend downward.

Industry sources cited by the report believe that Chinese foundries receive official subsidies, allowing them to disregard profit considerations. Previously, IC design houses’ price negotiations with Chinese foundries were mostly successful, which results in single-digit percentage price reductions recently. However, after the third quarter, the room for further price reductions may diminish, indicating that the price seems to be soon hit the bottom.

However, fin order to cope with the current macroeconomic fluctuations, some IC design companies mentioned that after suffering from being “burned” by high inventory in the past, they now tend to wait for clear demand from customers before starting production. In recent years, the proportion of production sent to Chinese foundries has been increasing due to cost considerations. With the continuous expansion of mature process capacity in Chinese foundries, the pressure of oversupply may persist for a while longer.

According to TrendForce’s previous report on the fourth quarter of 2023, global semiconductor foundry revenue rankings showed that the top three semiconductor foundries globally were TSMC, Samsung, and GlobalFoundries, which are all less exposed to mature nodes.

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(Photo credit: TSMC)

Samsung Electronics and Synopsys jointly announced that the former has successfully taped out its first mobile system-on-chip (SoC) with its 3nm gate-all-around (GAA) process. According to Synopsys, Samsung used the Synopsys.ai EDA suite to help with the SoC’s layouts as well as design verification, to enhance its performance.

While it is important that Samsung utilized the Synopsys.ai suite for developing high-performance SoCs, it is also momentous progress as the semiconductor heavyweight finally tapes out its advanced smartphone APs with the node.

The unnamed high-performance mobile SoC from Samsung adopts a universal CPU and GPU architecture, along with various IP modules from Synopsys. The design team not only leveraged the Synopsys.ai EDA suite for fine-tuning designs, but the Synopsys DSO.ai to maximize its output. In addition, Samsung also targeted to achieve higher performance, lower power consumption, and optimized chip area (PPA) by leveraging Synopsys’ Fusion Compiler RTL-to-GDSII solution.

Although Samsung’s foundry has been using the GAA-based SF3E node for chip production over the past two years, it has never been used to produce chips in its own smartphones, nor on other SoCs. So far, the SF3E node has only been utilized for cryptocurrency mining chips, possibly due to the initially low yields of GAAFET nodes.

Though Samsung’s press release only indicates that this SoC has been produced with GAA nodes, and the company possesses more complex SF3 processes in addition to the first generation 3-nanometer SF3E, it is reasonable to speculate that it is SF3 given the timeline.

Kijoon Hong, vice president of SLSI at Samsung Electronics, stated that the company’s long-term collaboration with Synopsys enables leading SoC designs, showcasing the highest performance, power efficiency, and chip area on advanced mobile CPU cores and SoC designs. The tape out represents an important milestone, as it demonstrates how AI-driven solutions can help realize goals. With the help of the most advanced GAA transistor architecture, ultra-high-yield design systems can be established.

This SoC chip achieves a maximum clock speed increase of 300MHz and a 10% reduction in power consumption. Samsung’s SoC development team also utilized techniques such as design partitioning optimization, multi-source clock synthesis (MSCTS), and intelligent routing optimization to reduce signal interference, while other simpler layering methods have also been employed. According to official statements, with the boost of the Synopsys Fusion Compiler, the development process could skip weeks of ‘manual’ design time.”

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(Photo credit: Samsung)