Samsung will start applying pellicles in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) process used in advanced chip production starting in 2023, TheElec has learned.Pellicles, which are used to protect masks from dusts, will be used in mass production starting in late 2023, people familiar with Samsung’s internal

Nextchip said on Monday that it has started development of advanced driver assistance system SoC Apache 6.Prototype of the chip will be released in the second half of 2022, the company said.Apache 6 is the successor to Apache 5, which has neural processing unit (NPU) applied.The new chip will have s

Fabless firm Siliconarts said on Monday that it has launched its general-purpose GPU IP called RAIV.General-purpose GPU is used for AI software for deep learning and machine learning.Siliconarts said its RAIV IP can process big data used for deep learning or machine learning fast.It also supports ma

Micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) market is expected to grow 11% this year compared to a year ago thanks to increase in demand from smartphones and wearable devices, according to market research firm Yole Development.MEMS refers to microscopic devices. Microphones, sensors and other devices wi

Cirrus Logic’s deal to buy Lion Semiconductor for US$335 million is talk of the town in South Korea’s semiconductor industry.Last week, Cirrus Logic announced that it was acquiring the California-based startup that specializes in power management ICs for wired and wireless charging as well as DC-DC

Samsung Display and its parent company Samsung Electronics are reviewing potential use of an underused liquid crystal display (LCD) plant in South Korea, which could possibly result in the plant being converted to a semiconductor plant, TheElec has learned.The plant at Cheonan, owned by Samsung Disp

Samsung secured half of the global smartphone memory revenue in the first quarter this year, according to Strategy Analytics.The South Korean held a 49% market share in the space.This was followed by SK Hynix’ 23% market share and Micron’s 14%.Smartphone memory revenue for the quarter totaled US$11.

Apple’s sales from its own chips increased 54% year-on-year in the first quarter, according to Strategy Analytics.Cupertino recorded US$2 billion in sales from its A series of application processor on its iPhones and M series of AP from its Mac PCs, the analyst firm said.Apple introduced the M serie

Fab equipment firm FST said on Thursday that it has developed the “world’s first” pellicle mounter/demounter for the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) process used in semiconductor production.The equipment mounts and dismounts pellicles on the masks automatically. The equipment has passed a review conducted

Nexperia, a Dutch chip firm owned by China’s Wingtech, said on Monday that it will acquire UK chip foundry Newport Wafer Fab.CNBC said in its report that the deal is worth 63 million pounds.Nexperia will own a 100% stake in Newport’s fab in Wales.The UK foundry’s fab was founded in 1982 and has a pr

Fab equipment firm Exicon said on Wednesday that it has supplied a prototype of its burn-in tester to Samsung.The deal was worth 10.7 billion won and Exicon will be supplying more of the units up to December this year.Exicon primarily manufactures memory tester and solid-state drive tester. DRAM tes

Packaging firm Polaris Works said on Tuesday that it will begin supplying its automotive image sensor package called NeoPAC Encap to image sensor company Pixelplus this month.The package is for 5.6 micrometer pixel size VGA (688x528) automobile rear cameras. It will first be supplied to a Chinese ca

Samsung has put in requests to its CMOS image sensors testers to expand their capacity, TheElec has learned.The South Korean tech giant is guaranteeing orders for its testing partners as it is expecting high demand for CMOS image sensors in the second half of the year, people familiar with the matte

US fab equipment component maker MKS Instruments said on Thursday that it will be acquiring Germany’s Atotech for US$5.1 billion.MKS is buying Atotech at a 10% premium and the deal is expected to be completed within the year.The US company will buy the German company with cash on hand and committed

The shortage in automobile chips that started late last year is expected to ease slightly starting in the third quarter of 2021, according to market research firm IHS Markit.Automobile OEMs around the world suspended their car production multiple times in the first half due to the shortage.This tren

Unitest, a South Korean fab equipment vendor which supplies kits to SK Hynix, is close to completing its new factory at Pyeongtaek.The factory will start operation within the year at the earliest, people familiar with the matter told TheElec.Unitest’s production capacity will triple once the factory

Texas Instruments said on Wednesday that it will be acquiring Micron’s fab in Lehi, Utah for US$900 million.Back in March, Micro had said it would sell the 300mm fab.Texas Instruments has now secured four 300mm fab through this deal.The company plans to manufacture 65- and 45-nanometer analog and em

DRAM and NAND flash prices remained flat in June from the previous month, according to DRAMeXchange.The fixed price of PC DDR4 8Gb was US$3.8 in June, the same as the in May. The prices of the second and third months of a quarter usually remains the same as new contracts are negotiated at the start

SK Hynix is preparing to end its business relationship with its design house partner ADTechnology, TheElec has learned.The South Korean memory giant had used the design house to have TSMC make its NAND flash controllers.But as ADTechnology recently ended its value chain aggregator (VCA) contract wit

SK Hynix’s acquisition of Intel’s NAND business unit has received the approval from UK’s antitrust watchdog.The Competition and Markets Authority gave its unconditional approval of the deal on Monday.In October last year, the South Korean memory giant announced that it would be acquiring Intel’s NAN