June 16, 2025

Taiwan Backlists Huawei and SMIC Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei and SMIC, tightening restrictions on AI chip tech exports. The move blocks access to key semiconductor tools, striking a blow to China's ambitions and escalating cross-strait tech and political tensions. Taipei Times

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Chip Industry Week in Review China unveiled an AI chip design system to speed up semiconductor development, while Micron boosted U.S. investment plans to $200B. AMD launched powerful MI350 GPUs, and Harvard warned the U.S. tech lead is narrowing globally. Semiconductor Engineering

The Economics of Electronic Component Salvage and Reuse This paper explores the feasibility and benefits of salvaging and reconditioning the leads and pads of electronic components, focusing on high-value components such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, and artificial intelligence chips. Technical Paper

Sponsor A study about 3D stacking of passive SMD elements This study demonstrates laser assisted bonding (LAB) of SMD Tantal Elko and MLCC capacitors and presents a comparison to conventional bonding using solder paste and reflow oven. PacTech

SK Hynix unveils 30-Year DRAM roadmap with Vertical Gate, 3D stack in bid to extend Moore's Law SK Hynix revealed a 30-year roadmap for next-gen DRAM, spotlighting sub-10nm tech, vertical gate architecture, and 3D DRAM at IEEE VLSI. The plan aims to overcome scaling limits and drive sustainable semiconductor innovation. Digitimes

Samsung, TSMC set stage for fierce race in 2nm chip tech TSMC and Samsung plan to begin mass production of 2nm chips in late 2025, intensifying the semiconductor race. Meanwhile, Intel bets on its 1.8nm process to revive its foundry business and challenge both rivals. The Korea Herald

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Technical Papers Analysis Of Multi-Chiplet Package Designs and Requirements for Production Test Simplification The Evolution of Inspection and Metrology in the AI Era The Economics of Electronic Component Salvage and Reuse How Precision Motion Systems are Shaping the Future of Semiconductor Manufacturing Reducing CTE Mismatch Defects in Flip Chip Reflow Impact of Cleaning Technology on Discrete Packaging - The Difference in Wire Bonding Yield A study about 3D stacking of passive SMD elements for advanced SMT packaging using laser assisted bonding MORE TECHNICAL PAPERS

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ASMedia bullish on AMD desktop chip demand ASMedia expects stronger Q3 revenue, driven by rising USB 4.0 demand and AMD's desktop chip gains over Intel. Its Techpoint acquisition and chipset business will jointly fuel growth, with a record-high NT$30 dividend approved. Taipei Times

Almost all India iPhones sent to US Apple ramped up iPhone exports from India to the U.S., with Foxconn shipping 97% of its $3.2B output there since March—up from 50% last year—as Apple accelerates efforts to bypass rising China tariffs. Taipei Times

Sponsor IC Device & Micro-Electronic Cleaning Answering the needs of packaging engineers, Kyzen offers modern cleaning chemistry proven effective for all IC devices & micro-electronics. Cost effective cleaning is no longer a challenge. Kyzen Corporation

EnCharge Picks The PC For Its First Analog AI Chip EnCharge AI unveiled its EN100 analog AI accelerator, delivering 200 TOPS performance with over 40 TOPS/W efficiency. Using capacitor-based compute-in-memory, it enables large AI models to run locally on laptops and PCs under tight power constraints. EE Times

Huawei's AI semiconductor output limited to 200,000 in 2025, US commerce official says A U.S. official estimates Huawei will ship under 200,000 AI chips in 2025, far behind Nvidia's 1 million China-specific GPUs. Despite sanctions, officials warn China's AI chip development is rapidly advancing and should not be underestimated. South China Morning Post

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Huawei's HarmonyOS gains traction in China with 103 million smartphones shipped Huawei has shipped over 103 million HarmonyOS smartphones and 21 million tablets, with nearly half in 2024, accelerating its pivot from Android. It also launched HarmonyOS laptops, pushing for platform autonomy amid ongoing U.S. tech sanctions. South China Morning Post

SEMI appoints Tien Wu as new Chairman of international board of directors SEMI appointed ASE Group COO Tien Wu as Chairman and Comet's Benjamin Loh as Vice Chairman of its International Board. The new leaders aim to boost global collaboration, innovation, and policy advocacy in the semiconductor industry. Digitimes

Sponsor Effect of Package Warpage and Composite CT on Failure Modes Researchers analyze board-level reliability of surface mount devices in thermal cycling, identifying failure modes via warpage and strain data. Akrometrix

RISC-V's Increasing Influence RISC-V's open architecture is gaining momentum across industries, offering flexibility for evolving workloads and gradual migration from legacy systems. While skeptics remain, its customizability and growing ecosystem are pushing it into mainstream applications. Semiconductor Engineering

Sponsor The Next Step in Surface Prep! All-new Ontos Clean Atmospheric Plasma System. Create pristine, atomically-controlled, activated surfaces without a vacuum chamber. Ontos Equipment Systems