The global semiconductor market is projected to grow by 13.1% in 2024 according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. Despite ongoing geopolitical challenges and supply chain instability, nearly half of industry insiders anticipate accelerated growth within the APAC market over the next 3-5 year, per a recent Deloitte Report.
To help you stay informed on this dynamic topic, Guidepoint Insights has been closely tracking key players in the market and providing regular updates on trending themes such as supply chain dynamics, generative AI, autonomous driving and the geopolitical landscape, offering valuable insights that underpin industry development trends.
Here are some recent highlights:
Navigating Global Supply Chain
How are semiconductor companies strategizing their supply chain to thrive amid competition, and what are the unmet challenges? Guidepoint Insights recently engaged in an in-depth discussion with former executives from Foxconn and TSMC to take a look how key players including Luxshare, PSMC, Vanguard and Apple are managing the current dynamics.
Key takeaway:
“China will be more and sometimes will take some parts of high percentage of the market share in the mature 8-inch or 12-inch in global business.”
“The mature business market might be taken by China or China can have their own supplier, so that’s why Vanguard and Powerchip currently, they are low utilization and they still need to have the growth in revenue and the business.”
“Given the unique nature of the Vision Pro product line, this could potentially create openings for other major players, such as GoerTek and Luxshare, rather than the conventional dominance of Foxconn.”
“Lets say if a certain part, produced by Luxshare or Foxconn, satisfies about 60% to 70% of Apple’s requirements but needs improvement in some critical metrics, Apple will invest in a small-scale project with Foxconn to address these issues.”
The Synergy with Artificial Intelligence
As the semiconductor industry continues to evolve, the convergence with generative AI signals significant innovations and potential disruptive changes within the industry.
Together with industry leaders, including a director of strategy and product from MediaTek</strong and a former country manager from Inside Secure, Guidepoint Insights moderated a comprehensive exploration of this emerging landscape, unveiling the profound impact of generative AI on pivotal industry players including the tech giants within CXL (Compute Express Link).
“In fact, ARM has not put much emphasis on the field of AI. Currently, AI developments are occurring in two main areas. The first area is closer to the cloud, where NVIDIA has essentially completed most of the work.”
“AI must have two prerequisites. The first is having models which evolve on their own, including models like large language models or image generation models such as Stable Diffusion.”
“In addition to Intel and AMD, there are also some manufacturers using ARM CPUs or resfy CPUs to develop ASICs. AI accelerator card chip manufacturers, such as NVIDIA, AMD’s Athlon300, or domestic startups like Enflame, Iluvatar CoreX, MetaX, Cambricon, and even Alibaba and Tencent, they are all doing their own AI chip R&D.”
“In addition to the push in the AI sector, there is also another push in memory. Memory interfaces are also having changes.”
US-China Tension
Teaming up with the CEO of a leading high-density panel-level packaging technology company in China and a former senior product director of ASML, Guidepoint Insights delved into the impact of current geopolitical dynamics on critical facets such as advanced packaging, shedding light on the strategies being employed by industry giants like ASML and others to navigate these challenging scenarios.
“TSMC will do a silicon-to-package turnkey solution. CoWoS is a mature technology so everyone goes there. A lot of AI startups go to TSMC for that solution, but it’s really not necessary.”
“A lot of the reasons the TSMC CoWoS is in high demand was because of supply chain issues.”
“The US restriction would impact ASML China-specific revenues due to the limitations on the immersion exports.”
“Don’t forget that the China market for equipment or even for chipmaking has grown significantly. They have probably more installed capacity than Taiwan or Korea.”
Driving the Future of Mobility
The semiconductor industry plays a crucial role in driving the future of mobility due to its pivotal position in enhancing vehicle performance, safety and energy efficiency.
Guidepoint Insights had an in-depth discussion with a former field application engineer from Intel and a former chip engineer from Horizon Robotics Technology to unravel the ways semiconductor advancements are shaping the landscape of autonomous driving.
“Excluding Huawei, which plays a unique role increasingly integrated into roles similar to OEMs, Horizon stands out among domestic players and leads significantly compared to its immediate competitors.”
“Unlike Qualcomm, Black Sesame or Tesla’s AI chips that focus on certain AI algorithms, Horizon’s NPUs are customized for specific AI algorithms.”
“Mobileye, influenced by its parent company Intel, did not have a proactive approach in constructing the computing power model. It lost the opportunity to compete in computing power from the beginning.”
“Mobileye’s algorithms can indeed meet the requirements of Level 4 (intelligent driving). Their typical partners include traditional automakers that heavily depend on Mobileye for developing intelligent driving, especially advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).”
Through ongoing pivotal discussions with renowned industry experts across major markets, Guidepoint Insights will continue to monitor developments in the semiconductor market, assess strategic advancements and their significant impacts, and stay abreast of the latest breaking events.
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